metro

Ganz P type metroset made in Hungary
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Building of Budapest metro started in 1950 and the government wanted hungarian metrosets. Like the other times, this wasn't easy, but also this wasn't unavaliable.
When the construction of Budapest metro started, also in the Ganz train factory the planning and buliding of the prototype trains was began in 1951 fall. The plans created like the moscow metrosets. The planning and the building was hard work, and the accomplishment was the two cars (p1 and p2) in 1953 june 25. Their color was white and cherry red. This two cars was tested in the 600 m long test track between the Péter Vajda street and the Üllői road (at the southeast side of Népliget, near the Hegyeshalom trainline). The prototype cars was stored in a barrack at the end of the test track near the Üllői road. /In the early 90's the rails of the test track were visible/.
For the electricity supply of the track was built a separate transformer in the Péter Vajda street near the Budapest Elektromos Művek (Budapest Electric Works) outdoor tramsformer-station. This transformer was still working in the middle of 90's (1995), and supplied trams and trolley buses.
The testing of hungarian trains was discontinued when the metro building was stopped in 1954. The trains stored in the temporary barrack (see above exactly where) until 1970. Then the cars carried to the metro depo at the Fehér road, and in 1972 the cars destroyed.
In 1963 the buliding of Budapest metro was continued but the government didn't wanted hungarian metrosets. In Hungary this period were a lot of unite of industrial corporations, and growed up some big industrial corporations. Also in this period the similar Ganz and MÁVAG train farctories side by side was united, and it had a lot of inner troubles. This factory's main function was the metro car building, however they disagreed this tender, and Hungary needed to import metrosets from abroad. The company was made another metroset (Ganz Hunslet G2) in the early 80's, that type tested until 1995 in the 3rd metroline and in 1995 the tests are cancelled. Today that metroset is in the metro depo at Kőér street.

Text: István Bata, translation: Ádám Kovács; Images: Zoltán Kelecsényi