Brutal record delays at Hungarian State Railways: 5 years and 8 months in 2023
MÁV (Hungarian State Railways) trains were late by around 3 million minutes, or 5 years and 8 months, in 2023. This is the worst result since the current methodology was introduced in 2017. Looking at the data for the last six years, there was an improvement under the Covid pandemic, but since then, the railway company’s performance has deteriorated dramatically.
In 2023, MÁV trains were late by a total of 3 million minutes, which corresponds to about 5 years and 8 months, far exceeding the values of previous years, Telex reports. They add that the data is deceptive: since 2017, a methodology has been used by the railway company in which only delays longer than 6 minutes are counted. This means that a train arriving 5 minutes 59 seconds later is still considered punctual in the statistics.
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Overall, trains in Hungary were 80% more late last year than in 2020; that is, if we only count delays of more than 6 minutes.
In fact, in 2017, MÁV was only 3.5 years behind schedule, which has been significantly increased by 2023. However, last year’s delay of almost 6 years does not seem so much, because it compares to 176.5 years of total journey time.
Do. Ot sell MAV to the private sector as they will close down the lines that make slight profits, trains will not stop at small Towns in peak times , the Railways will be seen as “ cash cows” and profits will not go back into the Railways.
Hungary should have a State owned Railway however, the repairing and building / removing of old track should be done by the private sector; private firms should be allowed to bid for Contract routes and especially for freight , All State Railway staff should only be given 1-3 year Employment Contracts as it is too expensive to give jobs for 20+ years . Private involvement is the efficient way forward but not a private Railway as in the US .