The Budapest Rail Challenge
An attempt to set the record for fastest time riding to every station in the Budapest metro and suburban rail system.
9 rail lines
4 snack breaks
10 checks by fare inspectors
2 connecting buses
3 bathroom breaks
4 tram rides
1 puppy sighting
1 inter-city train
108 unique train stations
The Best Dumb Idea I’ve Ever Had
Maybe you haven’t heard of the New York City Subway Challenge. I mean honestly, who would put themselves through the pain of riding the Subway to every single one of the 472 stops, and who else would care? Well, according to Guinness World Records, a Wikipedia page, and multiple documentaries and YouTube videos, the answer is quite a few transit enthusiasts. The competition is good-spirited but fierce, with the current record at 22 hours, 14 minutes, and 10 seconds.
The Subway Challenge has also spread to other cities, with variants that I know of in London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and likely elsewhere. But to my surprise, apart from this forum post from 2016, the Budapest Metro has had no similar attempts, at least not that I can find.
Thus, “the best dumb idea I’ve ever had” as I put it when I texted my friend Claire to invite her along, was born. We devised our own rules to some extent. Our goal was to ride from, to, or through every single stop on the Budapest Metro, and we added in the Budapest Suburban Rail system for good measure. Our rules meant that we could pass through adjacent stations on different lines without having to cover every single section of track, a slight variation from the New York version. We were also unable replicate the one-fare restriction present in some variations of the New York challenge, though we did hold ourselves to only public transit (no taxis) for connections. And so, last Thursday, Budapest began its morning rush hour covered with a light dusting of snow, and we began our world record attempt.
11:15AM, 0/9 lines completed, Chapter 1: Végállomás (End Station)
The H6 suburban railway is the longest in Budapest. Actually, I should say in Pest County since it stretches south well beyond city limits along the Danube. Because of its length, over an hour in each direction, we needed to avoid backtracking on this route. Consequently, our jumping-off point became the end, the last station of the H6 line in a town called Ráckeve. Having met in central Budapest at just after 9am, it took until nearly 10:45 to arrive in Ráckeve. Thankfully, there was time to walk down the road, past a shuttered pálinka (Hungarian fruit brandy) store, to the open supermarket and grab a coffee. We hurried back to the station and, at 11:15, our train rolled out right on schedule, along with our record attempt.
12:47PM, 1/9 lines completed, Chapter 2: Csepel Buffet
Csepel is known as one of the poorest parts of Budapest. It is an industrial area, on an island in the middle of the Danube, and was devastated during the 1956 revolution. It isn’t well connected to the rest of the transport network, except for the suburban rail H7 line. After disembarking from our long train from Ráckeve, the short 14-minute journey to Csepel and quick turnaround felt like a good change of pace. It was also lunchtime and we were getting hungry. 14 minutes is long enough to eat a panini right? As it turns out, we weren’t the only ones with this idea. Across from us was a young man eating a chimney cake, and in a third seat, an older man eating a pastry. He chuckled to himself and grinned at us as he remarked “büfe a kocsi,” meaning “the train car is [turning into] a buffet [fast food restaurant].”
1:43PM, 2/9 lines completed, Chapter 3: Buda Hills
We emerge from the Csepel line exactly where we first met up in the morning. After just a short tram ride, we’re ready to cross the river to the western Buda side. We do this underground, on the driverless M4 metro, strategically positioned in the first car with a view out the front window. Afterwards, we switch to an inter-city train, coming into the city from somewhere to the west, in order to save time on the journey between the city’s Kellenföld and Déli (“southern”, though it’s actually in the northwest) train stations, then board another metro line. Just like that, the portion of our challenge on the Buda side is essentially complete. The hills of Buda, and maybe also the much wealthier pocketbooks of the residents here, have kept the most extensive transit to the Pest side.
2:28PM, 2/9 lines completed, Chapter 4: Tourist Train
We transfer from the metro to the suburban rail line to Szentendre, the only one much used by tourists. There aren’t too many in February, but in the summer this train will be packed with foreigners heading north to see the quaint town. This line has some of the most regular fare inspections, usually just past the Budapest City-Pest County line where they try to catch those who haven’t purchased the right type of ticket. Surprisingly though, the fare evader the inspectors catch on this journey is a local, nabbed as he tries to surreptitiously validate his ticket only after they start checking. Once in Szentendre, there is no time to see the sights. We’re on schedule, but want to catch our bus transfer to the end of the M3 and make it through the city center on that longest metro line before rush hour starts in earnest. Luckily, we make the connection and get a nice seat for the trip, watching as everyone who boarded with us slowly filters off, replaced by a swirling mix of other commuters.
5:16PM, 4/9 lines completed, Chapter 5: The East
Now, following another short bus transfer (which takes us past one of Hungary’s largest beer factories), we start the final long segment of the challenge. This is the H8 and H9, two suburban rail lines which head due east before splitting. As a result, we’ll have to backtrack, then change trains three times just to finish two lines. It’s also dark by now, no scenery to look at outside the windows. We hit a low point for morale. Yet, when we find ourselves with a train car to ourselves for the first time the whole day, the childlike wonder returns and we take a little run around the moving box on rails.
7:48PM, 6/9 lines completed, Chapter 6: The Home Stretch
Finally, the end is in sight, with two treats planned for the transit nerd in me. Ticking off the last few stops on the M2 and M4 lines flies by, and also takes us past my home station at Rákoczi tér. When we emerge from the M2, we’re at the parliament building, lit up at night in all its glory. With 8/9 lines completed, we’re in good spirits. And the only thing that could top that feeling might be the #2 tram along the banks of the Danube, according to some the most beautiful in the world. Before long, we’re at the entrance to our final line, the M1, and taking over-under bets about when we’ll finish. This metro isn’t just number one on the map, but also in age. It is the oldest metro in continental Europe, and the second oldest in the world, beaten only by London. Constructed back in 1896 for the 1,000 year anniversary of arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian basin, the stations may be old and the trains slow, but it feels like the tiles are glowing and we are flying as we race up Andrássy Avenue and under the City Park.
8:44PM, 9/9 lines completed, Chapter 7: Final Thoughts
We emerge from underground at Mexikói Út station at 8:44 PM, exactly 9 hours and 29 minutes since we started. We’re jubilant, not that anyone else cares. We’ve been getting odd looks throughout the day as we note down arrival times into each station. But here, as the shops around the last station of the M1 start to close up, it’s just a normal Thursday night and the world is happily unaware of the completely useless thing we’ve just accomplished.
Over pizza and a beer, we debrief the day. We’ve “seen” most of Budapest, though only in a cursory way. The other train passengers have mostly ignored us. Even though we haven’t really moved much ourselves, we’re exhausted. While we had a good time and feel that sense of achievement, I don’t think I’ll be repeating the experiment any time soon. Now, to use that Pest County transit pass to explore some places for real. On another note though, perhaps the greatest takeaway from the day is how well the system worked. Everything ran on time except one bus delayed by just a few minutes. For the metro, we never waited more than three minutes, and for most of the suburban rail lines the headway wasn’t too much greater. There are still issues of coverage and frequency in some places, but my American mind can barely comprehend just how smoothly everything worked.
For now, we have bragging rights for shortest time to ride to every metro and suburban railway station in Budapest. But who will be the next to beat that record?
Coming next: I’m currently traveling in the Hungarian-speaking or formerly Hungarian areas of Slovakia and Ukraine. Next week, learn about who lives in these regions, and where my own family came from.
