Hungarian State Railways

Magyar Államvasutak Zrt.

Railway network
An MAV Bombardier Talent waiting in Déli pályaudvar
Locale	Hungary
Dates of operation	1869–current
Predecessor	Hungarian Royal State Railways
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length	7,606 km (4,730 mi)
Headquarters	Budapest
Website	http://www.mav.hu/

Hungarian State Railways (Hungarian: Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV) is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt." (passenger transport), "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance) and "MÁV-Trakció Zrt.". The "MÁV Cargo Zrt" (freight transport) is sold for ÖBB. The head office is in Budapest.

The first steam locomotive railway line was opened on 15 July 1846 between Pest and Vác. This date is regarded as the birth date of the Hungarian railways. The Romantic poet Sándor Petőfi, later a leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, rode on the first train and wrote an occasional poem, predicting that rails would connect Hungary like blood vessels in the human body.

After the failed revolution, the existing lines were nationalized by the Austrian State and new lines were built. As a result of the Austro-Sardinian War in the late 1850s all these lines were sold to Austrian private companies. During this time the company of Ábrahám Ganz invented a method of "crust-casting" to produce cheap yet sturdy iron railway wheels, which greatly contributed to railway development in Central Europe.

Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 that created the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, transport issues became the responsibility of the Hungarian Government, which also inherited the duty to support local railway companies. This came at a considerable cost: in the 1874 fiscal year 8% of the annual budget went to railway company subsidies. This led the Hungarian Parliament to consider founding a State Railway in 1868.