he Gyermekvasút railway in Budapest, Hungary operates like many others in the area. The narrow-gauge line crosses seven miles of the Buda Hills from nine in the morning until seven at night. The forty-minute ride traverses the countryside along the River Danube, and is popular for hikers and mountain bikers. A chairlift near the Erzsébet lookout returns passengers from the Gyermekvasút to Budapest. Small cafes and restaurants line the route, too, offering local cuisine to interested passengers.
One critical difference sets this line apart: the railroad is almost completely staffed by children.
Known as the “Children’s Railway”, the Gyermekvasút employs kids aged 10 to 14 to manage the station. Sporting navy blue uniforms complete with a hat and tie, children run the ticket office, keep records, and direct traffic under the supervision of a few adult employees. As of 2015, the railway had employed over 15,000 children in its 67-year history.
Budapestians may refer to the railway as the “biggest train set in the world,” but the Children’s Railway requires more than play from its young employees. Despite having such a young staff, the Children’s Railway, like any other, must adhere to trainline regulations set forth by the State Railways of Hungary. Interested students in grades four through six must demonstrate academic excellence, seek a recommendation from a teacher or principal, and participate in four months of weekend training. At the conclusion of the instructional program, candidates must pass an exam. Once employed, students serve in all positions on a rotating schedule.
Most children work every 15-17 days, and working at the Children’s Railway offers excitement and camaraderie beyond the confines of a classroom. In the winter and summer vacation seasons, when more tourists arrive at the station, youth can choose to stay overnight in student dormitories. The summer-camp feel of the program emphasizes the importance of team-building and allows students to form meaningful relationships with one another.
However, the line’s beginnings are less innocent. During the height of the Soviet Union, officials often used such child workers as a means to encourage youth to adopt communist ideology.
Gorsky Park, the first rail line operated by children, opened in Moscow in 1932. Hungary’s Children’s Railway, then termed the “Pioneer Railway”, opened in 1948 under a government sympathetic to the USSR. The Gyermekvasút railway received its first nickname from the Pioneer Movement, a Scout-like organization dedicated to instilling communist beliefs into children. To be a Pioneer was to be an exemplar student. Elementary-school aged youth would aspire to the railway, and proponents of the movement used the train as a system to expose students to manual labor and ideas of honor.
At the fall of the Soviet Union, over 50 children’s railways still existed, scattered across the Eastern Bloc. Since then, many former children’s railways have become heritage railways, maintained as historical preservations.
The Gyermekvasút railway in Budapest is one of the few children’s railways that still employs youth.
The Gyermekvasút railway, Budapest, children’s railways, youth, travel, wonderlust, around the world, Europe
The Gyermekvasút railway, Budapest, children’s railways, youth, travel, wonderlust, around the world, Europe
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The Biggest Train Set in the World
September 6, 2020
The Gyermekvasút railway in Budapest, Hungary is operated almost entirely by children.
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he Gyermekvasút railway in Budapest, Hungary operates like many others in the area. The narrow-gauge line crosses seven miles of the Buda Hills from nine in the morning until seven at night. The forty-minute ride traverses the countryside along the River Danube, and is popular for hikers and mountain bikers. A chairlift near the Erzsébet lookout returns passengers from the Gyermekvasút to Budapest. Small cafes and restaurants line the route, too, offering local cuisine to interested passengers.
One critical difference sets this line apart: the railroad is almost completely staffed by children.
Known as the “Children’s Railway”, the Gyermekvasút employs kids aged 10 to 14 to manage the station. Sporting navy blue uniforms complete with a hat and tie, children run the ticket office, keep records, and direct traffic under the supervision of a few adult employees. As of 2015, the railway had employed over 15,000 children in its 67-year history.
Budapestians may refer to the railway as the “biggest train set in the world,” but the Children’s Railway requires more than play from its young employees. Despite having such a young staff, the Children’s Railway, like any other, must adhere to trainline regulations set forth by the State Railways of Hungary. Interested students in grades four through six must demonstrate academic excellence, seek a recommendation from a teacher or principal, and participate in four months of weekend training. At the conclusion of the instructional program, candidates must pass an exam. Once employed, students serve in all positions on a rotating schedule.
Most children work every 15-17 days, and working at the Children’s Railway offers excitement and camaraderie beyond the confines of a classroom. In the winter and summer vacation seasons, when more tourists arrive at the station, youth can choose to stay overnight in student dormitories. The summer-camp feel of the program emphasizes the importance of team-building and allows students to form meaningful relationships with one another.
However, the line’s beginnings are less innocent. During the height of the Soviet Union, officials often used such child workers as a means to encourage youth to adopt communist ideology.
Gorsky Park, the first rail line operated by children, opened in Moscow in 1932. Hungary’s Children’s Railway, then termed the “Pioneer Railway”, opened in 1948 under a government sympathetic to the USSR. The Gyermekvasút railway received its first nickname from the Pioneer Movement, a Scout-like organization dedicated to instilling communist beliefs into children. To be a Pioneer was to be an exemplar student. Elementary-school aged youth would aspire to the railway, and proponents of the movement used the train as a system to expose students to manual labor and ideas of honor.
At the fall of the Soviet Union, over 50 children’s railways still existed, scattered across the Eastern Bloc. Since then, many former children’s railways have become heritage railways, maintained as historical preservations.
The Gyermekvasút railway in Budapest is one of the few children’s railways that still employs youth.
