With the toot of a horn, the ring of a bell and the hiss of air brakes, an unusual rail vehicle pulls out of a depot in Budapest to serve the Hungarian capital’s public transit system — a job it has done for a century.
Known as mukis, these freight trams run on electricity from overhead wires on Budapest’s vast tram network, one of the busiest in the world. Unlike the hundreds of iconic yellow passenger trams, mukis do not carry commuters.
Acquired by the city in 1926, the wood‑sided vehicles were born of necessity: they transported goods and raw materials to and from factories after much of Budapest’s freight infrastructure was destroyed during World War I. “Engineers at the time designed an electric drive system mainly using parts from vehicles damaged in the war, as well as parts from vehicles that had already been designated for scrapping,” said Adam Zadravecz, head of tram vehicle development and technology at BKV.
Their primary purpose was freight transport, but after World War II the trams were also used to remove war ruins. In the 1960s some of the original 40 were fitted with snowploughs so they could clear tram tracks in winter — a role they still perform — and they also carry out nighttime maintenance runs and haul broken-down trams to depots for repair.
Over the decades parts were replaced piecemeal, creating a mix of components, and by 2018 the mukis required more comprehensive refurbishment. “When they were manufactured in the 1920s, they were extremely simple, extremely puritanical devices,” said Nandor Meixner, head of vehicle maintenance at the Ferencváros depot. During refurbishment, crews aimed to ease the work of operators — adding a seat so the driver can sit and installing cabin heating.
Despite updates, Zadravecz said the trams’ essential nature remains the same. Their maintenance costs are nearly zero because, compared with modern vehicles’ complex electronics, there is very little that can fail. “People say that it can be repaired with a hammer and a file, and that’s absolutely true,” he said.
Driving a muki requires special training and what Meixner called a certain “feel” for the vehicle. “It is not enough to just drive, to know the signs and instructions, you also need to know the vehicle itself. We used to say that the driver has to drive this vehicle with his butt,” he joked.
Of the original 40 mukis, only six have survived in Budapest, with three in active use. “The value of these vehicles lies precisely in their simplicity, in the pure fact that they exist and are available to us,” Zadravecz said.
