MVK Zrt.

MVK Zrt. (Hungarian: Miskolc Városi Közlekedési Zrt., pronounced [ˈmiʃkolt͡s ˈvaːroʃi ˈkøzlɛkɛdeːʃi ˈzeːjɛrteː]; Mass Transport co. ltd. of the City of Miskolc; previously MVK Rt.) is the name of the transport company of the city of Miskolc, Hungary. Unlike the transport companies of many other cities, MVK Zrt. is independent from the company responsible for municipal transport in the county (Volánbusz) and is responsible only for the mass transportation in Miskolc and the nearby town Felsőzsolca. The buses are usually dark blue; the trams on Line 1 are yellow or red, on Line 2 are dark red. Miskolc has recently invested much in its public transportation. By the year 2016 90% of the company's vehicles will be low-floor.

Miskolc has a long history of mass transport. The first tramway was built in 1897, and Miskolc was the first Hungarian city to have a scheduled bus line in 1903. Today Miskolc is one of only six Hungarian cities that have its own mass transport company. The city has two railway stations (Tiszai and Gömöri) and an unpaved airport which is not open to the public and plays no role in mass transport. There is also a narrow-gauge railway line between Miskolc and Lillafüred, but it has no importance other than being a tourist attraction.

The need for Miskolc having mass transport emerged in the middle of the 19th century. By this time the city had more than 30.000 residents, the railway line reached Miskolc in 1859 but the railway station was at that time quite far (2.2 km) from the city proper; the metal factory of Diósgyőr was opened in 1868, and Tapolca was fast becoming a popular tourist destination. In the 1860s it was planned to build the tram line between the factory and the railway station underground, but sufficient funds were lacking. Had it been carried out, it would have been the first underground railway in Hungary.

From 1862 horse buses ran between the railway station and Diósgyőr, later between downtown and Tapolca. The leaders of the city started to plan having tram lines in 1895. The project was led by dr. István Csáthy Szabó. According to the first plans the tramway line would have been 20 kilometres long, from Tiszai station to the other end of Diósgyőr, but the ministry agreed to finance only the construction of a 7 km-long line.

The first tram entered service on July 10, 1897. It ran between Tiszai Railway Station and St. Anne's Church and stopped at 8 termini, including the two end termini. The tram line in Miskolc was the fourth one built in Hungary – after the tram lines in Budapest (1887), Pozsony (today in Slovakia; 1895) and Szombathely (May 1897; demolished since then) –, the third one in present-day Hungary and the second normal-gauge tram line (those in Pozsony and Szombathely were narrow-gauge). The tram stopped six times between its two end stations. On the 1st day 7615 passengers used it, which met the expectations. (Today 90,000 passengers use only the two tram lines daily; there are 430.000 trips on all bus and tram lines combined.) The tram was operated by MVV Rt. (Miskolci Villamossági Rt.; Electric Company of Miskolc.) Because of the success of the first tram line, a second tramway was built perpendicular to the first one, between Búza tér and Népkert. This line was much less popular and because of it after four months of operating MVV Rt. asked the city council to agree to demolish this tramway, but it didn't happen until 1960.

On June 8, 1903 a citizen called Mrs. Gyula Bene launched the first scheduled bus line between the city halls of Miskolc and Diósgyőr. However, the tram was still very popular, and the bus couldn't compete with that, so the bus line was abolished.

Until 1947 the operator of trams, MVV Rt. was the same company that provided electricity for Miskolc. This was not always a fortunate situation. In the 1920s the leaders of the city wanted to start bus traffic but MVV Rt. was afraid of competition and threatened to raise the price of electricity so they changed their minds.

Meanwhile, the workers of the metal factory of Diósgyőr expressed their need for the tramway line to reach the factory. With the financial help of the state and the factory a new tramway was built from Miskolc to Diósgyőr. To operate it a new company was founded, the Miskolc-Diósgyőr Municipal Railway Company (MDV Rt.). (Since Diósgyőr was not part of Miskolc at that time, the state allowed it to be operated only as a municipal railway, not as a tram.) There were plans to unify the two tram lines so that people would not have to change when going from the railway station to Diósgyőr, but MVV Rt. saw MDV Rt. as a competition and did not agree. Later MDV Rt. gave up its right to operate its tram line, because of their lack of experience of operating tram lines, and MVV Rt. took over. By January 22, 1906 the two tram lines were united and one could travel from Tiszai station to Diósgyőr without changing trams.