04/12/2025
The worst train accident in the history of Hungarian railways occurred 31 years ago on 12/02/1994 at 4:46 p.m. The accident killed 31 people.
The accident was caused by human error. A quarter of an hour before the train arrived, an irregular shunting operation was carried out on the first track. The switches had already been set to the second track, which the express train was supposed to pass through. When shunting, the shunting train performed a switch cut (i.e., it adjusted the switch with its wheels), so it was returned to the first track, which the traffic control was not aware of, and the shunters did not check the position of the switches after the cut. As a result, the express train arrived at the switch in the actual detour position at the speed permitted for straight-line travel (approximately 110 km/h), which in this position would have allowed a maximum speed of 40 km/h. The locomotive (V43 1360) and the first carriage detoured and continued on the first track, but the other carriages of the train derailed.
