On Sunday evening, five carriages of the InterCity 5 Claudiopolis train from Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) to Budapest derailed near Keleti Station, blocking traffic in the main station. The technical rescue was still underway on Monday morning. A man travelling on the train broadcast the events via live video.
As we reported yesterday, the InterCity 5 carriage Claudiopolis from Cluj-Napoca derailed on the main track in front of Budapest’s Keleti station on Sunday evening. No one was injured in the accident.
The technical recovery was still underway on Monday morning. Technicians are working non-stop to recover the derailed wagons so that train traffic can resume as soon as possible. Keleti Station is not receiving or allowing trains to arrive and depart for an indefinite period, as trains arrive and depart from other stations in Budapest.
Train tickets are valid:
- M2, M4 metro and H8 HÉV on all lines,
- To get to Kőbánya mountain station, take trams 23 and 24 between Keleti pályaudvar and Orczy tér and trams 37 and 37A between Magdolna utca and Kőbánya mountain station.
to Rákos railway station from Örs vezér tér with buses 97E, 161, 161E, 168E, 169E (97E and 169E also stop in Rákos). - Replacement buses are running on the section Keleti Railway Station (Kerepesi út bus stop) – Upper Kőbánya (Albertirsai út) – Rákos Railway Station. The buses are running non-stop.
VIDEO:
International railway lines
ICs from Szombathely and Sopron, Railjets, ECs from Vienna and long-distance trains every two mornings from Hegyeshalom (9309, 9307) to and from Budapest-Kelenföld.
The international high-speed train Dacia from Bucharest to Vienna (346) does not stop at Keleti Station. Instead, it can be taken at Ferencváros and Kelenföld stations in Budapest.
Experts say it will take 1-2 days for normal eastbound traffic to be restored. Stay tuned for more information.
Is the minister responsible for the accident?
After the accident, transport expert and former mayoral candidate Dávid Vitézy sharply criticized the state of the capital’s main train stations and the over 50-year-old carriages to Transport and Construction Minister János Lázár. In his view, they were “a disgrace to be used as long-distance trains at an additional cost.”
So even if we do not know the cause of today’s accident, i.e. whether the derailment was caused by the tracks or by vehicle damage, the Minister of Transport bears a great responsibility, not only in an abstract political sense, but also in terms of direct decision-making – because all his measures have not only failed to alleviate the growing crisis of the Hungarian railways, but have even exacerbated it recently.
– he said.
