Two freight trains collided in Hungary in the early hours of Sunday, and the accident made the main railway line from Hungary to Austria in the west inaccessible.

According to the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), on Sunday night, a freight train running on the section between Biatorbágy Station (about 20 kilometers west of Budapest) and Herceghalom Station 8 kilometers away rear-ended the previous freight train for unknown reasons, causing several carriages to derail.

According to information collected by local media, the rear train was a freight train of GYSEV Cargo, a Hungarian state-owned railway freight company, and the front train that was rear-ended was an empty fertilizer car of PSŽ, a Slovak private railway company. PSŽ mainly provides freight services in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Fortunately, the accident did not cause any casualties.

The accident occurred on the Biatorbágy to Herceghalom road section, about 20 kilometers west of Budapest.

(Image source: Google Maps)

But the accident caused a significant impact. The rescue team needs to remove the overhead cables above the derailed carriage section first so that the crane can carry out rescue work on the spot, lift the derailed carriage, and then repair some of the damaged track facilities.

Because of this accident, the line between Biatorbágy Station and Herceghalom Station is impassable. These two stations are located on the main line from Budapest to Austria (Budapest - Hegyeshalom - Rajka - Austria), which also means that the railway traffic from northern Hungary and Budapest to Austria is interrupted. At present, the damage assessment, reconstruction and investigation work of the Hungarian Railway Company has begun.

The repair work on the damaged railway is expected to take some time. After the accident, the train connection at Győr station was severely affected and passengers could only travel by alternative bus routes. Some trains detoured to Székesfehérvár station in the south and even Komárom station on the Hungarian-Slovakian border to complete the transportation tasks. The westbound lines from Budapest have all experienced large-scale delays and some trains have been cancelled.

The Budapest-Hegyeshalom railway line is one of the most important railway trunk lines in Hungary. It is an electrified track designed as a double-track track. It is the fastest channel connecting Budapest and western Hungary to Austria. As part of the EU TEN-T channel, many European railway passenger and freight operators will use this line. 　　

Source: Exploring the New Silk Road

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