Chaos at Budapest’s Keleti railway station: Despite promises, traffic fails to resume
Passenger services failed to resume on Sunday morning at Keleti railway station, despite earlier announcements from MÁV that the key Budapest terminal would reopen on 21 September following a four-week renovation. A sudden technical fault in the early hours prevented operations from restarting, causing significant disruptions for travellers.
Overnight success, morning failure
On Saturday night, MÁV issued a statement declaring the completion of one of the largest rail refurbishments in recent times. Passengers were told that normal life would return to the Keleti station’s historic main building and platforms starting Sunday. However, shortly after 6 AM on Sunday, MÁV CEO Zsolt Hegyi announced in a video that the terminal would remain closed.
The issue stemmed from the signalling equipment: following a lengthy power shutdown, a fault occurred during system reactivation. “Learning in the middle of the night, just hours before reopening, that the station will not be able to receive trains from dawn is absolutely unacceptable,” said the MÁV chief.
Replacement buses and temporary measures
MÁV leadership stated their top priority was getting passengers to their destinations, prompting them to organise replacement buses from the Kerepesi Road side. Alternative transfer points set up during the four-week closure would also remain in operation. The express tram line introduced by the Budapest Transport Centre (BKK) continues to support the commute.
Hegyi added that Keleti will definitely reopen by the end of Sunday, but it will remain closed until then. MÁV staff are on hand at station entrances to assist and inform passengers.
EUR 11.3 million renovation
Keleti station had been closed since 25 August for renovation works costing nearly HUF 4.4 billion (EUR 11.3 million). During the full closure, passengers on the Győr, Pécs, Miskolc and Békéscsaba lines were redirected to various other stations in Budapest. It is worth noting that, even if the station reopens today, follow-up works will continue until the timetable change in December. Speed restrictions will only be fully lifted then, allowing trains to operate at the planned 40, 60 or 80 km/h speeds on the terminal’s network.
What has changed?
As part of the large-scale technical overhaul, engineers repaired points, overhead wires, and signalling equipment, and replaced rails, sleepers and concrete track beds. The goal was to allow MÁV to dispatch and receive trains to and from the Győr, Hatvan-Miskolc, Pécs and Újszász–Békéscsaba lines more reliably and punctually. The temporary transport arrangements put in place during Keleti’s closure proved effective and ensured daily commutes without major disruptions.
To read or share this article in Hungarian, click here: Helló Magyar