Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1990. július-december (44. évfolyam, 27-48. szám)
1990-10-11 / 38. szám
Thursday, Oct. 11.1990. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 11 ÁmÉmcAri HuncflRiflns" More speed moi / MAV, the Hungarian State Railways, founded in 1868, handles 46% of all domestic passenger and freight traffic. Each day 39 pairs of international trains arrive and leave providing a direct link for Hungary with 45 cities in 15 European countries. As signatory to yarious international railway agreements, MAV has traditionally good contacts with other European railways. Passe hi; a-friendly schedule The 1990s represent new challenges for the railways, one which can only be faced through cooperation. Competition is becoming more intense for passengers in a Europe which is uniting. So as not to fall behind what road, water and air transport offer, the railways are taking new and coordinated steps like modernization,* under this comes renewal of the tracks, the provision of locomotives that are of higher speed and various currents, which means that trains can travel between countries without changing locomotives, and finally extending the top-quality international EuroCity services. Another area in which action is being coordinated is drawing up "passenger-friendly schedules" or as the experts call them, "tightly scheduled timetables". Its essence is that trains should run in a defined rhytm in each relationship, so that passengers can easily remember departure and arrival times of the regular timetable. Also changing trains does not require changing platforms. As a result of this rationalisation, departure Four years ago, the DDSG, the First Danube Steam Shipping Company, again began running a regular service between Vienna and Budapest: in the high season from the end of April to the end of September, every day, apart from Wednesdays the Donaupfell hydrofoil comes and goes between the two capitals. In the off-season the DDSG does not abandon its clients, for the Dunaupfeil continues to ply, though somewhat less frequently. Since the river flows towards Budapest, the journey from Vienna to Budapest takes four and a half hours, but from Budapest to Vienna it takes an hour longer. To make the journey plesant and relaxing, passengers are as well looked after as if they were on an aircraft. Or even better, for which airline lends Polaroid cameras to its passengers or which airline has a shop on board, as the Donaupfeil does? But this is not all, there is more particularly for those tourists who have more time to enjoy the Danube. The DDSG flagship Mozart cruises to Hungary on 26 occasions in 1990 but not only to Budapest. It carries thousands of passengers from every part of the world, who can view Esztergom en route, or disembark at Dunafőldvár and Mohács. The Mozart is justifiably the pride of the company, for it is the world's largest e comfort by rail and arrival times are more considerate of passengers, connections will be better and thus journey time wiU decrease while service density will increase. \if’lii in Munich, morning in Siófok A "tourist service" is planned for next summer at weekends, with departures from Munich at night, reaching Siofok at Lake Balaton the following morning. This train will have wagon-lit carriages and driveon car wagon. Manager trains for the Expo The Austrian and Hungarian railways will jointly pay particular attention to the further improvement of links between Budapest and Vienna. Since 1847-1848, when steamdrawn trains first chugged between the two capitals, this line has always been one of the most important for commercial and passenger traffic. Currently, four regular and two supplementary services link the two metropolises. After the jointly carried out track renewal, station development and the reduction of the time spent on frontier formalities, the running time will considerably decrease from 1992. These developments are part of the preparations for the 1995 Budapest,-Vienna Expo. MORE PASSENGERS BY BOAT BETWEEN Vienna AND Budapest The Mozart flagship on the Danube at Budapest and most elegant river cruiser. Various forms of entertainment on board are offered to the passengers, including Hungarian type revelry with Gypsy music. The other cruise vessel of the DDSG, the Theodor Korner, also docks in Esztergom and Budapest, on her way to the Danube delta, as the Hungarian capital is a port of call on every voyage. A combined boat-coach tour is a novelty; this is organized twice for the Vienna-Buda- pest-Lake Balaton-Vienna route. (From the Hungarian Travel Magazine) The Yugoslav authorities would welcome the joint modernization of the road and railnetworks connecting their country with Hungary. BRIDGES IN BUDAPEST Chain Bridge Budapest has six road bridges spanning the Danube. The oldest, the Chain Bridge, is perhaps still the most attractive, particularly when lit up at night. It was the first permanent stone bridge and was constructed between 1839 and 1849. Was the brainchild of Count István Széchenyi, the great 19th century reformer. He invited the English architect, William Tierney Clark to draw up the plans. The engineer who directed the actual construction was also named Clark, Adam Clark was born in Edinburgh and came to Hungary to work on the Chain Bridge which with its 2000 tons of ironwork was one of the largest suspension bridges of the time. He stayed in Hungary and was involved in several projects. He is buried in Budapest's Kerepesi Cemetery. The square at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge is named after him. Széchenyi viewed the construction of the bridge not only practically, as a means of uniting Buda and Pest and aiding commerce but also symbolically, as a sight of the technical advancement of the Hungarian nation, unity and progress - Hungarians still seem to pursuing these two goals today. Budapest's newest bridge is the Elizabeth Bridge. It is in a way Budapest's answer to San Francisco's Golden Gate. Designed by Pál Sávoly, it was opened in 1964, though the actual site of the crossing is one of the oldest in the capital. The original Elizabeth Bridge was opened in 1903 and until 1926 was the largest single span bridge in Europe. It was named after Empress Elizabeth, wife of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Franz Joseph. She was a very popular queen of Hungary. Margaret Bridge strikes us as the capital's most curious bridge. Constructed in the early 1870s, it is 600 meters in length and bends in the middle, forming an angle of 150 degrees. This is so that the two currents which sweep down on either side of Margaret Island just to the north of the bridge will hit at right angles. The bridges of Budapest add a charm to the city which make the view by the Danube a real delight. TtlktEdiMr Please send me a Hungarian-English and English-Hungarian dictionary as mentioned in your advertisement. Your newspaper is very informative and it has aroused the interest in me to pursue the study of our language more thoroughly. W. Bugyi •
