Hungarian State Railways let its passengers down in the heat of summer
A locomotive breakdown left MÁV passengers stranded without air conditioning between Szeged and Budapest, while the railway company quietly shut down its popular Vonatinfó tracking system. Travellers are now left trying to follow train schedules on a far less user-friendly new platform—if they can manage it at all.
Broken locomotive, no AC during hours-long delay
A Szeged-based reader shared their experience with Magyar Hang, highlighting the ongoing struggles of Hungarian rail travel. The intercity service, which departed Szeged at 11:44 a.m. en route to Budapest, came to a halt in Balástya at 12:11 p.m.—barely 20 kilometres into its journey. The disruption occurred because MÁV reassigned the passenger train’s locomotive to tow a stalled freight train. During the unscheduled stop, there was no power or air conditioning onboard, and several passengers opted to call a cab to ensure they didn’t miss their flights.
The delay only worsened: although the train restarted about 50 minutes later, the conductor warned of further disruptions near Kecskemét and told passengers they would ultimately have to disembark in Cegléd. From there, they were left to figure out their onward travel to Budapest on their own. The conductor’s only advice:
“Please remain patient; complaints can be made to MÁV.”
The incident is yet another example of how unpredictable rail travel remains in Hungary.
Farewell to Hungarian State Railways’ Vonatinfó
As Telex reported, MÁV has discontinued its Vonatinfó map-based tracking service, which had hundreds of thousands of users and allowed real-time monitoring of train locations and delays. In its place comes a new platform called EMMA, which the rail company claims is part of a broader effort to unify traveller information services. According to MÁV’s announcement, the new interface will display both rail and bus routes, offer colour-coded maps of stops, and will soon include additional features such as delay tracking and replacement bus notifications.
“Completely unusable” new platform
Despite MÁV’s assurances, the move has sparked criticism. Former Secretary of State for Transport Dávid Vitézy called the new EMMA interface “completely unusable”, describing it as a step backwards rather than forward. He claims the shutdown of Vonatinfó was not a planned upgrade but a political decision intended to hide delays from the public. According to Vitézy, the old system was transparent and user-friendly, while the new platform lacks a comprehensive map and does not feature colour-coded delay indicators. MÁV and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation have declined to offer further explanation for the change.
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