Derailed Train Causes Delays at Keleti Train Station

Hey there, have you heard about the train derailment near Budapest’s Keleti railway station? It’s causing quite a stir! The Claudiopolis InterCity, which was heading to Budapest from Cluj-Napoca, went off the rails on Sunday evening. Thankfully, there haven’t been any reports of injuries so far.

But here’s the thing: this derailment is seriously messing with the main station’s traffic. If you’re planning to travel on any of the lines that pass through Keleti, brace yourself for some major delays, cancellations, and overall chaos. Even the suburban and long-distance trains are being rerouted to other Budapest stations. Check out the map-based route planner to figure out the best routes for you!

Now, if you’re wondering about the Claudiopolis InterCity, it’s a relatively new service that runs from Budapest-Keleti to Braşov, passing through Szolnok, Püspökladány, Biharkeresztes, Biharpüspöki, Oradea, and Cluj-Napoca. It’s had a bit of a rough patch lately – back in April, it made headlines for hitting and killing someone in Gyomaendrőd’s Nagylapos district.

Derailments aren’t exactly uncommon in Hungary, though. According to Telex, there have been 42 derailments on the Hungarian State Railways’ (MÁV) 7,200-kilometer network over the past four years. Most of these incidents were minor, with only a wheel or two coming off the tracks at low speeds, and the technical rescue usually wrapped up within a few hours. MÁV told Telex that there were six derailments in 2020, seventeen in 2021, ten in 2022, and nine so far in 2023. To put it into perspective, over 1.3 million trains run on MÁV’s network annually.

Now, let’s talk about the changes in traffic due to this latest accident:

• Trains on the Budapest-Hatvan-Miskolc line will only run up to Kőbánya felső and then turn back towards Hatvan.
• Trains on the Budapest-Újszász-Szolnok-Békéscsaba line will run to Rákos and then turn back towards Újszász.
• Trains on the Budapest-Pécs and Budapest-Győr-Hegyeshalom lines that were originally scheduled to arrive at Keleti will now turn back from Budapest-Kelenföld station.

If you’ve got a train ticket, don’t worry – it’ll be valid on the M2 metro between Keleti and Déli railway stations, the entire M4 metro line, the 37A tram, and the 161 and 168E buses.

So, if you’re planning to travel through Budapest anytime soon, keep an eye out for updates and be prepared for some delays. And hey, at least you’ve got a story to tell about the time a train went rogue near Keleti station!

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