The Railway and the Film Industry

The Keleti Train Station is one of the most bustling stations located in the heart of Budapest. Its construction finished in 1884, according to Gyula Rochlitz’s plans, for which he sought inspiration during multiple international research journeys to the most important train stations of Western European capitals. This is why this building has an eclectic style, similar to railway stations like Berlin’s Lehrter Station. The Keleti’s visitors are often astonished not only by its beauty but also by the main hall’s sheer scale. The entire area of the station is approximately 16800 square meters, the glass hall’s length is 180 meters, while its width is 42 meters and its height is 31,4 meters. All together the railway station has 13 platforms, of which 4 are located within the central hall.

In the 2001 film An American Rhapsody, among many other Hungarian locations, one can spot the Keleti Station. The movie tells the story of Zsuzsa, performed by Scarlett Johansson, who is the smallest daughter of a family that emigrated from Hungary to America.

A huge amount of action films have been shot in Hungary, such as Mission Impossible 4, directed by Brad Bird. At the very beginning of the movie one can admire the stunning view of the Keleti Station from a bird’s eye view. In the scene Agent Hanaway, played by Josh Holloway runs away from his pursuers on the rooftop of the train station, then manages to shake them off with a brilliant jump.

Naturally, we can spot the Keleti Station not only in feature films but also in television series as well. For example in the series Covert Affairs the station doubles as one in Moscow. It is also worth mentioning the Korean series Memories of Alhambra starring Hyun Bin and Park Shin-Hye. In this production the Keleti plays the role of Barcelona’s station at night.

Next to films and series, advertising campaigns are also enthusiastic about visiting Budapest’s busiest station. Among many others, the eclectic, 19th century style building inspired Gucci’s creatives to the extent that they chose the railway station to be the main location of their 2022 Gift Campaign.

Next to the Keleti Station, we need to highlight the Nyugati Train Station, which is also located in the heart of Budapest and with its fantastic construction is one of the gems of the capital’s architecture. The railway station opened in 1877 when its iron structure counted as a technical miracle. The plans were designed by the company of Gustave Eiffel, the architect of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The train station has 17 platforms, its hall’s length is 146 meters, the width of the central hall is 42 meters and its tallest point is 25 meters. The building has an awe-inspiring sight to offer with its enormous glass hall facade, framed by side buildings with countless windows and in according to the taste of that period, are decorated with two high corner turrets and domes on top of each French style roofs.

The station is a much loved filming location, hosting productions like Gwen Stefani’s music video from 2007 called Early Winter. Next to the scenes shot in the central hall among trains, one can get an exclusive view of the station’s magnificent Royal waiting room.

Brad Pitt has also been to the Nyugati when shooting a scene set in Berlin for the movie Spy Game, other scenes of which were also shot in various locations throughout Hungary.

Let’s continue the long list of movies shot in Budapest with The Man with the Iron Heart, a movie from 2017, which takes us back to Prague during the Second World War. In this movie, the Nyugati Train Station is featured multiple times as a location in Prague and even can be seen in the movie’s trailer for a moment.

A significant part of the third season of the series Berlin Station was shot in Hungary. The creators of the TV Channel EPIX’s popular spy series also happily used the Nyugati Station for filming a chase scene. Here the Hungarian station doubled as the Estonian capital’s main station, the Balti Jaam Station in Tallinn. Leland Orser himself, one of the main actors of the series actually gave a personal introduction of the location to his fans.

In the last years, the Nyugati train station has also been chosen as a location for countless photo shoots and commercials, such as one of Lacoste’s commercials. The story starts at the train station, where a man and a woman bump into each other on a platform, then the man follows the woman onto the train where they go on mind-blowing time travel journey. Apart from this, many other brands, like Boden and Brax have used the Nyugati for their advertisements.

For example, take a look at the train station of the town called Pásztó, which was built in 1898 and is located in Hungary’s scenic hilly region. The small station has a truly romantic countryside feel thanks to the atmospheric yellow colour it was painted. Some of the train tracks have got overgrown by grass, a typical rural trait ideal for say, a scene featuring a steam engine. Also, even though this is a small town station, it has 15 platforms because Pásztó used to be a highly functioning mining town. A significant part of Gucci’s 2022 Gift Campaign mentioned above was shot at this station, thanks to the platforms out of use and the station’s convenient features.

The train station of Hatvan, on the other hand, has very different architectural traits than that of Pásztó. The building was built in 1956 and with its arcades and yellow colours, it has strong Spanish characteristics. At the passenger transport part of the station, one can find covered risen platforms, which can be accessed by underpasses, but a pedestrian overpass can also be found from which the whole station can be viewed.

Mezőtúr’s train station was built in 1858 during the heyday of the Habsburg Empire. To this day, the building features romantic architectural elements on its facade, like the decorations under its rooftop eave, that are so typical of its period. The station was renovated in 2009, thanks to which they completed it with a platform roof, reinforcing its heritage site quality. Some of the scenes of the previously mentioned Memories of the Alhambra were shot at this station.

One does not only have the possibility to rent nostalgia trains from the central railway company. The Hungarian Railway History Park also provides productions with the service of using its countless historic vehicles inside and outside of the park’s area. Within the park’s 70.000 square meter area, one can find more than a hundred railway vehicles, as well as the equipment needed for operating the railway. For example, it is home to the country’s oldest still functioning steam engine from the 1870s. Next to the trains, the Park also has its own hangar, which can also available for productions. Another advantage of this location is that it grants a calm environment, without having any notable train traffic passing through it.

If a specific train is required that can not be found in Hungary, it is possible to bring the carriages into the country from abroad for the duration of the shoot. For example, it was possible to bring to Hungary and store the Austrian Majestic Imperator train in collaboration with the Hungarian Railway for the much mentioned Gucci Gift Campaign.

Another pro of shooting in Hungary is the opportunity to provide locations without overhead lines, that count as a real rarity. This is how for example the Székesfehérvár - Tapolca railway line has a lot less confined and exciting conditions for shooting. This train line travels through the country’s hilly region, along with the shore of the Lake Balaton, one of Europe’s largest sweetwater lakes.

And finally, a few statistics. Hungary’s railway system is longer than 8000 kilometres, its passenger traffic moves through 16 larger train stations and nearly 600 small and medium-sized stations. Many stations have been renovated over the years, but there are also countless stations where time has stopped, creating quite rustic, rundown conditions. The oldest station was built in 1860 and can be found in a countryside city called Székesfehérvár. Let the genre be a romantic, a drama, an action film or the story requires a train station set in Moscow, Paris or even the Wild West, whatever kind of railway locations productions arrive here in search for,  Hungary has countless possibilities to offer.