Reviving History: A Sightseeing Tour with Ikarus Buses from the Closed Hungarian Transport Museum
The Transport Museum: Preserving the Legacy of Ikarus Buses
The Transport Museum, one of the oldest technical museums in Hungary, was a state-run institution with a national collection. Located in District XIV of Budapest, in the City Park (Városliget), the museum building was open to visitors until 14 April 2015. Unfortunately, it was demolished in seven months as part of the Liget project in February 2017, as reported by Hello Hungarian.
Despite the closure of the museum, efforts to preserve its legacy are ongoing. The Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum’s Moving Museum, which was organized on weekends in December and January, was a great success and attracted a lot of interest in Budapest. One of the highlights of the museum’s collection is the Ikarus buses, considered to be the best of their kind in Hungarian bus production.
The museum boasts a large collection of Ikarus buses, including the iconic Ikarus 311 and the “tailed Ikarus” (faros Ikarus). These vehicles, although no longer young, usually require extensive refurbishment upon arrival in order to be restored to working and traveling condition. In the absence of exhibition space, the artefacts are made available to the public as widely as possible and also tested for use.
The Ikarus 311, produced between 1963 and 1972, and the Ikarus 55, one of Ikarus’s best-known and most successful buses built between 1954 and 1973, were the main attractions of the Moving Museum. The Ikarus 55, also known as the “tailed Ikarus” or “Bözsi,” is recognizable for its distinctive rear engine section. The route of the programme led from the Hall of Art in Heroes’ Square along Andrássy Avenue through the city’s transport history, attracting bus enthusiasts and completely selling out all tickets.
The future of the museum’s collection is still uncertain, but the efforts to preserve these iconic pieces of Hungarian transport history continue to be met with enthusiasm and support from the public.
