Hungary
Above Budapest, in the wooded Buda Hills, there is a narrow-gauge railway where the guards, signallers, booking clerks, announcers and traffic managers are all aged between ten and fourteen. Only the drivers are adults. Guinness lists the Gyermekvasút as the longest railway in the world operated by children, and it has been running since 1950.
You reach it on something almost as unlikely: a rack railway of 1874 that Budapest does not treat as a heritage attraction at all, but as tram line 60 — every fifteen minutes, five in the morning until eleven at night, on an ordinary city ticket. Put the two together with the chairlift down from János-hegy and you have the best half-day in the city.
Rail journeys in Hungary
The Budapest Children's Railway
Eleven kilometres through the Buda Hills on a line where the guards, signallers and booking clerks are all aged between ten and fourteen.
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The Budapest Cog-wheel Railway
A rack railway that has climbed out of Budapest since 1874 — and is not a heritage attraction but tram line 60, on an ordinary city ticket.
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What are Hungary's best rail journeys?
Two, and they connect. The Children's Railway runs about eleven kilometres through the Buda Hills with children aged ten to fourteen doing every job except driving — Guinness recognised it in 2015 as the longest railway in the world run by children. The Cog-wheel Railway is the 1874 rack line that gets you to its upper terminus, and is still an ordinary part of the city tram network. Their termini are 250 metres apart.
Do children really drive the trains?
No — and this is the thing most often got wrong. Children aged 10 to 14 hold every other operating post: signallers, pointsmen, guards, announcers, traffic managers, cashiers and ticket inspectors, rotating through each in turn. The drivers and engineers are adults, and everything is supervised. Children volunteer, apply in the fourth grade, and must pass a medical aptitude test, complete a training course and show good school marks. It is heavily oversubscribed.
Can I use my Budapest travelcard?
On one of them. The Cog-wheel Railway is tram line 60 and is fully inside the BKK fare system — any Budapest ticket, travelcard or Budapest Card is valid, with no supplement. The Children's Railway is not: it is run by MÁV, sits outside city ticketing, and takes cash in Hungarian forints only — no cards. Carry cash if you are doing the circuit. The Libegő chairlift is also ticketed separately.
When can I ride them?
The Cog-wheel Railway runs every day of the year, roughly 05:00 to 23:00. The Children's Railway runs daily from May to August and daily except Mondays from September to April. The chairlift closes on alternate Mondays and in high wind — so if you want the full circuit, avoid Mondays altogether. Late October into early November is the best fortnight, when the beech woods both lines climb through turn completely.