The Millennium Underground Museum, open to the public since 1975, commemorates the first underground railway of the continent, which was inaugurated on 2 May 1896. In 1996, on the 100th anniversary of the launch of the underground railway – besides the entire underground railway line – the museum itself was renewed.

The museum was created with the aim of presenting the history of the Millennium Underground and the Budapest metro in an authentic setting. An obvious opportunity appeared in the form of a real technical relic: one of the original tunnel sections of the Millennium Underground, which was withdrawn from traffic in 1955, at the time of the construction of the East-West metro line. Hence, besides the exhibited carriages, maquettes, documents, photos, the walls themselves evoke a unique historic atmosphere in the heart of the city centre of Budapest.

In the museum’s entrance hall, visitors can see the original inscription „Gizella tér” of the downtown terminus (genuine Zsolnay glazed tile coverage). Furthermore, tableaus also installed at Gizella tér terminus feature the list of contributors to the establishment of the underground railway. One of the specialities of the museum is a marble plate, which recounts that Franz Joseph, visiting Budapest on the occasion of the millennial celebrations, travelled by the underground railway with his accompaniment on 8 May 1896 and „permitted most graciously” the underground railway to be named after him. Thus, the company with the previous name Budapest Underground Electric Tramway attained the company name Franz Joseph Underground Railway.

The exhibition displays three carriages of the underground railway: those with track numbers 19, 1 and 81. The vehicles on show were lifted in 1975 with a crane through the open ceiling on the tracks.
In the array of showcases opposite the carriages, relics, original documents (plans, maps, building reports etc.), photographs and models represent the history of the underground railway from the construction until nowadays. The final part of the exhibition provides an insight into the metro constructions.

In addition to the permanent exhibition, we also welcome our visitors with periodical exhibitions, educational museum programmes, a children"s corner and a museum shop.