Cseri Miklós (szerk.): A Resti. Skanzen füzetek 5. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2011)

The architecture of railway stations represents an important element in the history of Hungarian architecture. Several railway buildings are protected monuments today, and many of them wait for being protected. The construction of the Hungarian railway network at an extremely fast speed was followed by the fast increasing of the number of railway buildings. About 1500 stations were set up in Hungary before World War I. The railway constructions were the first examples for the use of standard designs in Hungary - due to their size and the repetition of the tasks. The private railway companies, and later the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) worked out standard designs. By making use of them, the railway buildings have been constructed considering geographical and urban characteristics and possibilities of towns and villages. The buildings met the needs of railway service, passengers, cargo and living circumstances of the employees. The buildings were shaped in compliance with the size of the station and the number of staff in service: service office, waiting-hall, ticket office, flats and restaurant were provided. We can observe that whenever a station was built far from a village-centre, a new settlement developed around the station. The railway restaurant took over the function of the earlier inns (csárda). Typical buildings set up around the stations used to be newly opened inns, cafés and hotels. %