An international express train was also forced to stop.
“Passengers on the Budapest–Vác–Szob line should expect significantly longer travel times, as well as trains being canceled or running on shortened routes, because no trains can operate in Göd — likely until 4 p.m. — due to a traffic dispatcher falling ill,” the Hungarian State Railway (MÁV) announced early yesterday afternoon.
The statement then went on at length to detail how train and bus services north of Budapest would be affected. Among others, the Metropolitan EuroCity arriving from Prague was forced to make an extended stop.
At around 6:30 p.m., MÁV issued another statement informing passengers that train services had resumed, delays were decreasing, and the timetable was slowly returning to normal.
After that, the CEO of MÁV spoke out in a Facebook post, revealing what had caused the railway employee’s sudden illness.
“It has since become clear that the illness was unfortunately caused by severe intoxication,” wrote Zsolt Hegyi, adding that the authorities had been notified. The police detained the railway employee on suspicion of endangering others in the course of their work, and on his orders the individual was immediately suspended.
The CEO apologized to all passengers.
Hungary’s state railway has been at the center of criticism recently due to frequent delays and repeated technical failures — and there were even train derailments.
