Of course, the dangerous event did not happen in Hungary because, in our country, the highest speed trains can reach is 160 km/h between Budapest and Győr. The Hungarian 40-year-old travelled on a German high-speed train and miraculously survived the daredevil ride without being harmed, but he needed helpful people who alerted the police and authorities.
Hungarian man travelled between carriages
According to BBC, the Hungarian national boarded the ICE train carrying passengers between Munich and Lübeck in just 6 hours in the Bavarian capital on Thursday. He did not have a ticket but decided to take a smoking break in Ingolstadt. However, he lingered too long over his cigarette, and the train doors closed. Since he did not want to remain stranded at the station, he jumped onto a bracket between two carriages and held on to cables.
The train accelerated to 282 km/h and powered on to Nuremberg, but the Hungarian man was lucky. People saw him at the station and informed the police and authorities, who managed to establish contact with the train driver. He brought it to a halt after 30km at Kinding in Upper Bavaria.
As an explanation, the Hungarian man told police he left his luggage on the train and did not want to lose it. Thankfully, he was not injured during the devilish ride. “A police officer from the state police who happened to be travelling with the train found the 40-year-old Hungarian ‘passenger’ and brought him on to the train”, a police spokesman said.
He was handed over to federal police in Nuremberg and is expected to face charges for “an act disruptive to operations”, considered to be a severe administrative breach. According to Telex, he was also fined for travelling without a valid ticket. At the beginning of THIS article, you can see a photo of where the man travelled for 30 kilometres. It is mind-blowing to take a look and imagine his journey.
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Fire at one of Budapest’s main railway stations: arson not ruled out – VIDEO and details in THIS article
Budapest-Austria railway line revamp modifies the schedule of international trains – read more HERE
A fire broke out on a locomotive at Keleti railway station near Verseny Street in Budapest, spreading quickly and engulfing another locomotive on the siding. Firefighters faced considerable challenges in extinguishing the blaze. One injury was reported. Authorities have stated that arson cannot yet be ruled out.
Readers of Telex, an independent Hungarian news outlet, reported the incident and provided photographs, which are featured in their coverage. Ádám István Kiss, spokesperson for the Budapest Directorate General for Disaster Management, confirmed that while the flames spread to a second locomotive, three other nearby engines escaped damage. The affected locomotives were stationed on sidings at the time.
Source: FB/Csanád Görhöny PrtScr
Authorities cannot exclude arson
Professional firefighters from Budapest, assisted by volunteers from Lőrinc-Kertváros, managed to bring the fire under control by 8 PM, though some glowing embers persisted in the locomotives. Crews completed their work by 8.30 PM.
A Telex correspondent reported that traffic at Keleti railway station was temporarily restricted due to the spread of smoke. According to Mávinform, the restrictions were lifted by 8 p.m.
Photo: PrtScr/MÁV/FB
The Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) began a thorough investigation to detect the reason for the fire. Currently, even arson cannot be ruled out.The Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) has launched a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the fire. At this stage, the possibility of arson has not been excluded.
Here is a video of the incident:
UPDATE: One man hospitalized
Mávinform shared an update yesterday night that their employees did a great job pulling away 30 carriages with the help of diesel locomotives and preventing them from being consumed by the flames. They said only one carriage suffered minor damage. They added that one employee was hospitalized for suspicion of smoke inhalation. Authorities still do not know the reason for the fire and they do not exclude arson. The investigation goes on.
Read also:
Budapest-Austria railway line revamp modifies the schedule of international trains – read more HERE
BREAKING NEWS! Mega real-estate deal planned at Budapest’s largest railway stations, says Vitézy
The first phase of the revamp of the railway line running between Budapest and Austria took place between 2 and 11 January successfully. The second phase started today and it will modify not only the schedule of the passenger trains commuting between the Hungarian capital and Sopron or Szombathely, but also the international trains carrying passengers on one of Hungary’s busiest lines.
Dangerous trees and bushes
According to Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid, train timetables on railway line nr 1 will change temporarily due to the scheduled maintenance of the overhead line the felling of dangerous trees and removing some threatening bushes growing too close to the railway track. In the first phase, between 2 and 11 January, the employees of the Hungarian railway company completed the works between Budaörs and Biatorbágy. The second phase started today and they are working between Kelenföld and Budaörs until next Sunday.
Photo: FB/MÁV
Due to the work, the timetables of the S10, G10, and S12 passengers and fast trains will be modified. Furthermore, InterCity trains running to Sopron and Szombathely and international EuroCity, EuroNight and Railjet trains will also commute following a different schedule. According to MÁV, their schedule will be modified only by minutes and mainly in the early morning hours.
Railway track revamp modifies the schedule of international trains
Csárdás EuroCity (EC 144) from Keleti railway station to Vienna and Lehár EuroCity (EC 340) will leave Keleti 5 minutes earlier, at 12:35 and 6:35 PM instead of 12:40 and 6:40 PM. They will leave Kelenföld station 6 minutes earlier than usual. Trains will commute from Tatabánya following their original schedule.
The Déli railway station. Photo: FB/MÁV
EuroCity, EuroNight and Railjet trains coming to Budapest, with the exception of the last two trains, EC 341 and RJX 261, will arrive at Kelenföld station 3-6 minutes later and at Keleti railway station 9 minutes later than their regular schedule. MÁV added that the S12 passenger train between Budapest and Oroszlány would commute on a shorter route.
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Spending only 3 days in Budapest? Here’s our detailed tour guide!
Waberer’s International is to acquire a 70pc stake in GYSEV Cargo, the listed Hungarian hauler said Monday.
Waberer’s, which signed an agreement to buy 62.5pc of the shares of GYEV Cargo on Monday, committed to raise the company’s capital by close to EUR 4,85m (HUF 2bn) to develop railway logistic infrastructure. The transaction will close at the end of the first half of 2025. GYSEV, the current owner of 100pc of GYSEV Cargo, will keep its 30pc stake in the target company after the transaction.
GYSEV Cargo is Hungary’s second largest railway transport service provider and can also provide services in Austria through its Austrian subsidiary Raaberbahn Cargo. GYSEV Cargo operates the container terminal in Sopron (W Hungary) at the Intermodal Logistics Service Centre, which is owned by GYSEV. It will also operate the intermodal container terminal under construction at the Debrecen-Macs Industrial Park railway station.
With the acquisition of a majority stake in the PSP Group earlier this year, Waberer’s also entered the Romanian market as a railway transport service provider so it now has operations in three countries.
Waberer’s said it is continuously considering business development opportunities in railway logistics.
Waberer’s majority owner is Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz, who has only a minimal stake as a private individual. Still, through two companies belonging to the BDPST group (Merkport Zrt. and Geraldton Invest Zrt.) owned by him, his interest exceeds 50 percent.
The Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja) international high-speed train, consisting of Ukrainian sleeper cars, will now operate nightly between Budapest and Kyiv, MÁV announced on Monday on its website.
The train will cover a distance of nearly 1,200 kilometres via Lviv, Mukachevo (Munkács), and Debrecen. The train from Budapest to Kyiv departs at 22:40 and arrives the following evening at 19:11. Conversely, the train from Kyiv to Budapest departs at 10:16 in the morning and arrives at 6:00 the next morning. The journey time is 20.5 hours—five hours longer than before the outbreak of the war, when the journey took approximately 15 hours.
For the entire journey between Budapest and Kyiv, second-class tickets are available for €48.10, with sleeping berths costing an additional €10, depending on the type of berth.
The first train departed Kyiv on Sunday morning and arrived in the Hungarian capital on Monday morning. In a video shared on her social media page, the speaker expressed MÁV’s pride in contributing to the cooperation between Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, Hungary, and the Hungarian people.
Dávid Vitézy, the leader of the Podmaniczky Movement in the city assembly, has said a mega real estate deal is being planned in which the landholdings of Budapest’s four major train stations would be leased out for 99 years and developers would be able to commercialise the stations and their surroundings “for free.”
Vitézy said MÁV had shown him the draft contract which included neither a purchase price nor a rental fee. Moreover, it did not prescribe any developments for prospective investors, he said.
He said Lázár’s ministry had claimed that the tenders only concerned the renovation of the station buildings, which he called “misleading”, as the tenders also would allow private companies access to areas of 15-30 hectares surrounding the stations, he added.
He said the tenders failed to include where and what the applicants should develop “in these vast areas” and had not been preceded by any consultation with either the districts or the capital.
He said that selling Budapest’s brownfield sites to investors “based on a seven-page shopping list” was typical of “the most corrupt countries in the developing world.”
Vitézy ended his Facebook post with this:
“Even in Africa or Latin America, such a unilateral tender, which would leave the state, the railways and passengers at the mercy of private interests for 99 years, would be a surprise.
There is indeed enormous development potential lying dormant in these areas of Budapest, with missing institutional and residential developments in disused railway areas, new parks, even a new Budapest congress centre behind the Nyugati, and the ideal location for the new Buda super-hospital near Kelenföld. Once the tunnel is built in the future, the South site will offer enormous urban development potential.
However, the successful development of a key area for a city region of three million people and the major railway stations serving the city can only be driven by the public interest. Turning off the public interest, driven solely by profit interests, will not bring a good end to urban development on this scale. We might have hoped that Hungary had learnt this lesson after the turbulent transition of regime change. János Lázár’s current move shows once again that he has learnt something quite different from the muddled period that followed the change of regime, and he not only wants to bring it back, but also wants to change the scale.”
By the end of 2024, a major upgrade on Hungary’s busiest railway line between Budapest and Hegyeshalom will be completed, promising faster and more reliable travel for both domestic and international passengers. The project includes state-of-the-art traffic management systems, improved passenger information, and reduced travel times, significantly benefiting connections between Budapest, Győr, and Vienna.
Faster connection between Budapest and Vienna
The Budapest–Hegyeshalom railway, Hungary’s most critical line for passenger and freight transport, is undergoing a transformative upgrade set to be completed by the end of 2024, Magyar Nemzet reports. The EUR 70 million project, supported by the European Union and the Hungarian government, aims to eliminate bottlenecks, enhance rail interoperability, and align with EU transport standards.
One of the key outcomes of the project is improved connectivity between Budapest and Vienna,
with the introduction of 16 daily train pairs expected to run with shorter travel times.
Enhanced traffic control systems, including the replacement of outdated equipment with the latest Central Traffic Management (Központi Forgalomirányító berendezés, Köfi) systems, will ensure greater reliability and punctuality across the line. Additionally, passenger information systems will be centralised, providing clearer and more consistent updates.
The upgrade also includes critical infrastructure improvements such as track replacements, modernisation of signalling systems, and the integration of advanced train control technology (ETCS L1–L2), allowing trains to travel through the Hegyeshalom border station at speeds of up to 100 km/h without stopping.
While Hungary’s upgrades are nearing completion, the full benefit for international travellers will materialise once Austria completes its own line renovation by 2028. This project not only strengthens Budapest–Vienna links but also enhances suburban and regional rail services, particularly for commuters in and around Győr. With this modernisation, travellers can look forward to a faster and more convenient rail experience in Central Europe.
Unions of MÁV group affected by the merger of MÁV-Start, Volánbusz and MÁV-HÉV have signed an integrated collective contract that ensures their continued employment after 1 January 2025, the state-owned public transportation company said on Tuesday.
The new collective contract affirms that employees may not be disadvantaged by the merger in any way: remuneration, as well as employee rights, will not change.
Long-distance bus company Volánbusz, passenger rail company MÁV-Start and rapid suburban rail company MÁV-HÉV are merging on 1 January 2025 into MÁV Passenger Transport.
From Monday afternoon, trains will not depart or arrive at the Déli Railway Station indefinitely, MÁVINFORM reports.
According to MÁV, the affected trains will typically arrive and depart from Kelenföld station. Suburban trains on the Győr main line, Székesfehérvár and Pusztaszabolcs lines depart and come from other stations in Budapest.
Between the two stations, you can take the BKK bus lines 139, 140, 140A to Sasadi út, from where you can walk to the Kelenföld station in a few minutes. Train tickets are accepted on these buses and along the entire M2 and M4 metro lines.
Reason for the traffic disruption
The traffic disruption was caused by an incident involving an S12 train (4435) from Kelenföld, which continued towards Déli station despite a prohibition signal. Train traffic is suspended on the section between Budapest-Kelenföld and Déli station until the situation is investigated. The reorganisation of train services is currently underway.
In the next two years Hungary’s government is planning on spending HUF 600bn on railway developments on the Budapest-Cegléd-Kecskemét-Szeged line, Construction and Transportation Minister János Lázár said on Thursday in Kecskemét (Central Hungary).
Lázár said the Szeged-Kiskunfélegyháza and Kiskunfélegyháza-Cegléd railway lines are being rebuilt because of the new automotive centre under construction in Szeged and in order to serve the automotive manufacturing base in Debrecen (East Hungary).
One reason for the development is labour mobility, so that commuters can get to their workplaces more easily, and the other reason is goods mobility, so that products can be more easily delivered to Western European markets, he added.
Minister Lázár and Mayor Klaudia Pataki Szemereyné. Photo: FB/Szemereyné Pataki Klaudia
The minister said HUF 175bn will be spent on upgrading and converting the Szeged-Kiskunfelegyhaza line into a double-track railway. The Kecskemet-Dabas line will be upgraded for HUF 190bn and the Budapest-Dabas line for HUF 177bn.
The government will use European Union funds and credit to finance the projects, he said.
Source: MÁV
Kecskemét mayor Klaudia Pataki Szemereynésaid around 300,000 commute to Kecskemét daily and the Kecskemét agglomeration area has 400,000-500,000 inhabitants.
In a Facebook post published this morning, Lázár said that his political community, Orbán’s Fidesz began to develop the Hungarian Great Plains after the Fall of Communism. Thanks to that, Kecskemét evolved into an industrial city, he added.
Boosting research, innovation a priority for Hungary presidency, says Minister Hankó
Boosting research and innovation with a view to enhancing the European Union’s competitiveness is one of the priorities of Hungary’s EU presidency, the minister for culture and innovation said at a special session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) in Brussels on Thursday.
Hungary believes that in order to achieve a turnaround in competitiveness, the EU should focus not just on innovation and research but also on education, demographic indicators and identity, Balázs Hankó said in his address.
He warned of the EU’s declining share in the global economy and its dwindling performance in research and innovation. The EU, he added, accounts for just 5 percent of total global venture capital, while the United States accounts for 52 percent and China 40 percent.
“This is further evidence of the stagnation of average research and innovation spending in the EU, which remains at 2.3 percent of GDP, significantly lower than our global competitors,” he said, pointing out that only four of the world’s 50 largest tech firms are based in the EU.
The Hungarian presidency therefore aims to address multiple challenges, including the fragmentation of European research areas and reducing the innovation gap between European players and their global competitors, he said.
Hankó called for the EU’s innovation spending to be raised to 3 percent of GDP, underlining the importance of streamlining administration for innovators and guaranteeing the right business environment.
He noted that half of the research projects launched under the Horizon Europe scheme ten years ago were still ongoing.
The minister emphasised the importance of cross-border cooperation, pointing to the examples of joint projects with Western Balkan countries.
As regards financing, Hanko said large discrepancies remained between member states’ innovation budgets, noting that western European countries receive more funding for innovation than their central European peers.
Eszter Lakos, an MEP of the opposition Tisza Party, asked the minister when Hungarian university students and researchers could return to the Erasmus and Horizon programmes, insisting that the changes put forward by the government failed to meet the European Commission’s criteria.
Tamas Deutsch of ruling Fidesz called the exclusion of Hungarians from Erasmus and Horizon “discriminatory and unlawful”, saying that Hungary had passed the necessary legislative amendments to remedy the situation, but the EC had yet to respond.
At a press conference after the session, Hankó said the Hungarian government had met the EC’s requirements in connection with Hungary’s participation in Erasmus and Horizon, with the exception of the recommendations to exclude Hungarian professors and rectors from university foundation boards and allow international organisations to decide the composition of the boards.
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A groundbreaking step in Hungary’s wage negotiations for 2025 – read more HERE
This Advent season, MÁV is offering festive train services to Vienna and Zagreb, with affordable ticket prices and a quick 2.5-hour journey from Budapest to the Austrian capital. Special Advent trains will operate to the Zagreb Christmas Market starting on 14th December. MÁV also presents a Christmas-themed selection of food and drinks on board, with festive meals and warm beverages available for travellers.
Advent EuroCity and Railjet: Festive trains to Vienna
MÁV is bringing the magic of Christmas markets closer to travellers with its festive train services this Advent season, Turizmus.com writes. From Budapest, the trains to Vienna, Austria, offer an efficient and comfortable way to reach the Austrian capital in just 2.5 hours. The Railjet and EuroCity trains operate on an hourly schedule, ensuring frequent and convenient options for passengers.
Photo: MÁV
The special Advent EuroCity trains will run every Saturday from 30th November to 21st December, departing from Budapest’s Keleti station at 8:01 AM and returning from Vienna at 6:04 PM. These trains are particularly popular during the holiday season, and passengers are advised to purchase tickets in advance for the best prices and to guarantee seating. The MÁV-START offers START Europa tickets, which include seat reservations, ensuring a stress-free journey for all passengers.
Travellers can also take advantage of special discounts for children, with tickets for children aged 6-14 priced at just EUR 5, while children under 6 travel for free, making it an ideal family outing.
Photo: MÁV
Zagreb Advent Express by MÁV
In addition to Vienna, MÁV is bringing back the popular Zagreb Advent Express, a special train to Croatia’s famous Christmas market. The train departs from Pécs on 14th December at 6:06 AM, with several stops along the way in Szentlőrinc, Dombóvár, Kaposvár, Somogyszob, and Gyékényes before reaching Zagreb. The round-trip tickets are available for EUR 54 for adults and EUR 38 for children. This festive journey is a great way to experience one of Europe’s most charming Christmas markets, which has earned a reputation for its cultural performances, children’s events, and traditional Croatian culinary delights.
Photo: MÁV
Photo: MÁV
Advent food and drink offers
On board the trains, passengers can indulge in a variety of seasonal dishes and beverages. Railjet trains feature a bistro section where travellers can enjoy festive meals, while EuroCity trains offer a special Christmas menu in the dining car. Highlights include holiday-spiced soups, fish soup, schnitzel with potato salad, stuffed cabbage, and the popular Christmas burger. For dessert, travellers can enjoy traditional treats like poppy seed bread pudding, vanilla custard, and Eszterházy cake. To keep warm, mulled wine and hot rum tea will also be available, adding to the festive atmosphere of the journey.
Serbia is the most important country from the point of view of Hungary’s security, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian strategic cooperation council, listing further joint investment projects in crude oil and gas transit, transmission lines, gas trading and storage and a border crossing upgrade.
Orbántold a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that thanks to developments in recent years more and more of Hungary’s energy supplies have come through Serbia.
“The Russia-Ukraine war closed off the other direction, so Serbia has become a country that provides first-rate security and a guarantee. There is no other country more important to Hungary … and [its] security than Serbia,” Orbán said.
He noted that existing investment projects were reviewed at the meeting and new ones have been decided on in crude oil shipping, gas transport, transmission line construction, natural gas trading and storage. He said a joint electricity exchange will be operating from the end of this year.
He confirmed that the Budapest-Belgrade railway project will be completed by 2026, and it was agreed that the Röszke-Horgos border crossing will be made into Europe’s “most modern, fastest and most civilised” border crossing, thanks to a large joint investment project.
PM Orbán talks Serbia as pro-peace country
Hungary, like Serbia, “is on the side of peace”, and that commitment has strengthened Serbian-Hungarian friendship, Orbán said, adding that Hungary had taken on the burden of conflicts in order to avoid “being dragged into the Russia-Ukraine war”. “We stayed away from that: it is not our war; we are on the side of peace and will remain there,” he said.
During its presidency of the European Council, Hungary had been able to “provide material help” to Serbia by speeding up its EU integration, Orbán said. “Europe must grasp that it is not Serbia that needs Europe, it’s the EU that needs Serbia.”
The EU is mired in problems, and growth, new momentum, dynamism and energy “can only come from new members”, he said. “Serbia is the best candidate for this, and Hungary will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that it becomes an EU member as soon as possible.”
“The US elections and the appearance of a party group of patriots and sovereigntists in Europe has brought about a new reality,” Orbán said. “The future belongs to sovereign, independent nations striving for success, and everyone in Europe must adapt their fate and politics to that,” he said.
Photo: FB/Orbán
Hungarians and Serbians have responded to that “new reality” by deepening cooperation, Orbán added.
Further, “the two countries will have to cooperate in security more closely as the issue is gaining importance in the new reality,” he said. “With Europe suffering from high electricity prices, we need better cooperation on electricity, and if blocs threaten to form in Europe, or Europe responds to the new situation with protectionism, we must strengthen connectivity and we must connect with each other all the more,” Orbán said.
Vucic was engine
He thanked Vucic for being the “engine” of high-level Hungarian-Serbian relations in the past decade. Serbia and Hungary “are two ambitious nations that refuse to resign to the fate the 20th century dealt them, and want to be successful, large and rich.”
Serbia’s success also raises Hungary’s value, he said, and “we have an interest in Serbians being as successful, satisfied, balanced and prosperous as Hungarians in the coming seven years.”
The Hungarian-Serbian strategic cooperation council on Thursday met for the second time, and representatives of the two countries signed seven agreements after the meeting, on legal aid in civil litigation, cultural cooperation, on a letter of intent on cooperation between their ministries of innovation, on renewing Hungary’s plan to provide expertise on EU integration, and on cooperation between the foreign ministries.
Orbán and Vucic also signed a common declaration regarding the meeting.
Increasingly tight cooperation with Serbia in Hungary’s strategic interest, says foreign minister
Tightening cooperation with Serbia is in Hungary’s basic strategic interest because both sides contribute to the improvement of each other’s physical, energy and economic security, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday.
“The closer cooperation gets, the faster our economy develops and the more secure we and energy supplies are,” Péter Szijjártó said after a meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian high-level strategic council.
He said energy ties would strengthen when a new crude oil pipeline between the refinery in Szazhalombatta and the Serbian network comes on line. “This will enable Hungary to be not only a buyer of crude but also a transit country, while opening up further sources of crude for Serbia,” he said.
“On the Hungarian side, the feasibility and environmental impact studies connected to the investment will be prepared by professionals and the selected companies by December, and from then on the implementation of the large investment project will take three years,” he said.
Szijjártó also said that great progress would be made in connecting electricity networks thanks to a new transmission line that would double total transmission capacity by 2028.
160 km/h high-speed railway connection
He welcomed the start of operations of a Hungary-Serbia-Slovenia electricity exchange at the end of this year, making supplies more secure in the region while increasing price competition.
Commenting on the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, Szijjártó confirmed that by 2026 it would be possible to travel between the two capitals at a speed of 160km per hour.
“For freight transport, the line will also be the fastest route from Greek ports to western European consumers, for instance in the case of Chinese imports to Europe,” he said.
The minister also said that another important investment project planned under the arrangements of Chinese-Serbian-Hungarian cooperation was building the largest, most modern and civilised border crossing at Roszke, where long queues are still frequent today.
Szijjártó said bilateral trade was continually expanding, its value having grown 4.5-fold in the past ten years, to 5 billion euros. “So it is especially important to end the long wait at the border which sometimes takes days,” he added.
“Related financial and technology talks will be started in China in two weeks. Trilateral Hungarian-Chinese-Serbian cooperation has been successful in terms of the railway investment. It is now time that we apply that to road crossings,” he added.
Budapest’s iconic Keleti railway station, celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, is undergoing essential renovations as part of the accelerated “Keleti Programme”, launched in response to recent disruptions. Following two derailments related to track switches in the second half of the year, MÁV (Hungarian State Railways) CEO Zsolt Hegyi announced a comprehensive plan to modernise and enhance the safety and reliability of Hungary’s busiest station.
Though unrelated in the cause, the two incidents impacted passenger confidence and disrupted train schedules, prompting Hegyi to prioritise an already-planned refurbishment programme for the station. (The last incident: A train derailed at Keleti station, causing several trains to be delayed.) The Keleti Programme, now underway, focuses initially on replacing nearly 200 wooden railway ties in the station’s switch zone. These upgrades are essential to ensure passenger safety and punctuality in train operations.
The project’s current phase, which began today, will run through the end of the month. To minimise disruption to passenger services, the construction work will occur exclusively at night, from 9 PM to 5 AM. However, travellers should be aware that some trains may arrive on alternate tracks due to the ongoing renovations. MÁVkindly asks for passengers’ understanding and patience during this time.
November marks the first yet crucial step of the Keleti Programme. By the end of the year, MÁV plans to implement significant interventions across 35 locations within Keleti’s switch and crossing zones. The major portion of the project is set for 2024, promising extensive upgrades to the station’s infrastructure and paving the way for smoother, safer rail operations in the years ahead.
As Budapest’s railway hub transforms, MÁV remains committed to delivering a more reliable and passenger-friendly experience for everyone travelling through the Keleti railway station.
A tragic incident at Novi Sad’s (Újvidék) recently renovated railway station, where a glass terrace collapsed on Friday, resulting in fourteen fatalities and multiple severe injuries, has raised questions about the companies overseeing the project. Serbian media reports, citing information from local procurement platforms, link the station’s reconstruction to Project Bureau Utiber, a company owned by Hungarian interests. While the official statement from Serbian Railways noted that only the station’s facade and interior were refurbished, with no mention of the terrace structure, local news sources suggest that Utiber had a role in supervising the station’s renovation.
Hungarian construction firm Utiber Közúti Beruházó Ltd., whose projects frequently involve subcontracting work for Lőrinc Mészáros’s companies, owns the majority of Project Bureau Utiber, Szabad Magyar Szó reports. Founded in 2014, the Novi Sad-based subsidiary has grown substantially, with revenues skyrocketing to seventeen times their initial levels and net profits increasing nearly ninetyfold over the last decade. Currently, it employs 63 people and is primarily owned by Utiber Közúti Beruházó, with 85% Hungarian ownership, while 15% belongs to Miodrag Jović, a Serbian citizen and managing director.
Photo: MTI/AP/Szerb belügyminisztérium
Beyond the railway station project, Utiber has secured numerous state contracts in Serbia, including for railway upgrades and construction supervision on the National Stadium, totalling contracts worth over EUR 23 million. In the Novi Sad railway project, Utiber holds the leading supervisory position among several bidders on the Hungarian border railway line, underscoring their dominance in this infrastructure project.
The company’s Hungarian owners, György Lakits and László Almássy, have made headlines in Hungary as well, especially with Utiber’s involvement in national motorway concessions, 24.hu writes. In 2022, the Hungarian government awarded a 35-year highway concession to a consortium linked to business mogul Lőrinc Mészáros, whose close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are well-documented. Utiber, often working as a subcontractor to Mészáros’s firms, has benefitted significantly from state contracts and European Union funding, which contributed to its rapid expansion and profitability.
In response to these connections, the Hungarian news outlet Telex contacted Utiber for comments on their specific responsibilities in the Novi Sad project but has yet to receive a reply.
With extensive involvement in both the Serbian railway project and the National Stadium’s construction, Utiber’s presence in Serbia exemplifies the close economic cooperation between the two nations. These connections have not only facilitated lucrative state-backed contracts but have also fueled the expansion of Hungarian firms within Serbia’s infrastructure and construction sectors.
Public transportation – train, HÉV and bus schedules – in Hungary will be modified on 23 October due to the national holiday. On this day, trains will operate on a special holiday timetable, while regional bus services will follow Sunday and public holiday schedules, according to a statement by MÁV, the national railway company.
Trains
For train routes such as Budapest to Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Keszthely, Békéscsaba, Szeged, Veszprém, Zalaegerszeg, and Pécs, MÁV plans to add extra train cars based on pre-sales of seat reservations, MÁV reports. The company also stated that additional carriages may be deployed as needed, depending on passenger demand and the availability of vehicles.
HÉV and bus schedules
Source: Volánbusz/FB
Regarding buses, services will follow holiday timetables on 23 October, and travellers should note that shops and shopping centres will be closed, meaning buses serving these destinations will also operate on their holiday bus schedules.
In addition, travellers should be aware of potential traffic disruptions in certain towns and cities due to holiday events.
HÉV suburban trains will also run according to the holiday schedule on all lines. Detailed information on bus services can be found on the Volánbusz website, while HÉV timetables are available on the BKK website.
On Monday, János Lázár, the head of the construction and transport ministry, said that the ministry is coordinating the revamp of ten busy railway stations.
Lázár said in a Facebook video that Debrecen railway station will be rebuilt with private capital as part of the scheme.
Commercial functions are being hived off from railway purposes and handed over to private capital, he said, noting plans to create a shopping mall with a railway point of arrival.
Tenders are open to private capital for projects in Debrecen, eastern Hungary, Győr, in the west, and Szeged, in the south of the country.
As we wrote today, a train derailed at Keleti station, several trains delayed, details HERE.
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Another train derailed at Budapest’s Keleti station, causing numerous delays and cancellations for commuters on Monday morning.
Due to a technical fault, some trains at Keleti station may be delayed by 15-20 minutes, Mávinform said on its Facebook page on Monday morning.
They wrote that on the Hatvan line, the Agria from Eger and the Mátra InterRegio from Gyöngyös will run as S80 trains between Budapest and Hatvan. On the Újszász line, the Z60 trains from Szolnok will run as S60 trains between Budapest and Sülysáp.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that another train derailed at Keleti station.
Public transportation expert Dávid Vitézy wrote in a Facebook post:
Another derailment occurred this morning, again at Keleti station, involving a locomotive. This is the cause of the disruption to the station’s operations reported by MÁV. The exact causes are obviously not yet known, but after the incident at the end of the summer, MÁV should explain very quickly how this could have happened again in the same place. Fortunately, as far as I know, there were no personal injuries,
It took several days to restore and restart traffic, and days later, it was discovered that the derailment was caused by two broken bolts, which prevented the train from moving properly and diverted it to the adjacent track, which was not designated for it.
Zsolt Hegyi, the CEO of MÁV made a statement on the matter:
“At dawn this morning, a locomotive travelling at low speed derailed with one axle at Keleti station. It was a trainset, so it was not carrying any passengers and was nowhere near the train. No-one was injured, including the driver, who noticed the track fault and acted accordingly. This accident understandably reminds everyone of the much more serious derailment accident in August, also at Keleti station. However, the two incidents are technically unrelated, as the bolts responsible for that accident have since been inspected at all reasonable points and replaced regardless of their condition, purely on the basis of their age. The cause of the current accident will have to be clarified by a more thorough investigation, but it is clear that the cause is different: the top rail in the picture has broken. However, this is not the most important thing for the passenger, but to reach his destination safely and on time. That is what we are working on. That’s why we have already decided to implement the East Programme next year, which will involve the renovation of the entire interchange area of the station (I should warn you that the complex works will also require the station to be closed to traffic for a while!) In the meantime, more frequent and thorough inspections and stringent safety measures will be taken to prevent accidents like this one from happening or, as in this case, to minimise their impact. Even now, my colleagues are working at full speed to get traffic back to normal as quickly as possible at the Keleti Railway Station.”
Hungary’s passenger transport sector is about to undergo a significant transformation in the coming weeks. Two major state-owned transport companies, Volánbusz Plc. and MÁV-HÉV Plc., will merge into MÁV-START Plc., marking the birth of Hungary and the region’s largest passenger transport company. Although both companies have already been part of the MÁV group, this new entity, officially named MÁV Passenger Transport Plc. (MÁV Személyszállítási Zrt.), will streamline their operations under one umbrella.
The merger will dissolve both Volánbusz, which has a substantial workforce and serves a large number of passengers, and MÁV-HÉV, with all assets and liabilities transferring to the newly formed company, Magyarbusz.info reports. The new entity will continue as the legal successor of both companies, absorbing their operations and resources.
Photo: FB/Volánbusz
Impact on financial structure and assets
This consolidation won’t just change the structure of these companies; it will also significantly affect their financial status. The assets, liabilities, and obligations of Volánbusz and MÁV-HÉV will merge into MÁV-START, resulting in a notable boost in capital for the new company. The registered capital of MÁV Passenger Transport Plc. will more than triple, and the asset base will grow considerably, especially in terms of tangible and current assets.
Currently, Volánbusz holds invested assets worth around HUF 188 billion (EUR 470 million), while MÁV-START’s assets are valued at nearly HUF 472 billion (EUR 1.18 billion). After the merger, the combined asset value will exceed HUF 689 billion (EUR 1.72 billion).
Leadership and timeline
The new company will be chaired by Lászlóné Németh, with other board members including current MÁV-START CEO Dr László Mosóczi, Attila László Chikán, Dr László Sors, András Puskás, József Vida, and Dr István Lantos.
The legal process of merging the three companies is already underway. While the earliest possible date for finalising the merger is 90 days after the decision on 30 September, the new entity is expected to be fully operational by 1 January.
