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.