Eerie echoes of history: Inside Budapest's abandoned train graveyard
Looking at this train graveyard, one sees that time has stood still. The abandoned vehicles have never regained their former glory. They are silent witnesses of a bygone era.
The abandoned facility in Istvántelek, known as the "Red Star Train Graveyard," spans a vast area below Budapest. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, the complex was initially a repair workshop for the Hungarian State Railways. Despite the passage of time, many machines still stand here under the open sky, accelerating their corrosion and decay.
Trains that were silent witnesses to human tragedy
In this mysterious location, you can find over 100 trains covered in thick layers of rust. Some of these machines were silent witnesses to human tragedy—there are still trains here that the Germans used to transport Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz.
This neglected railway workshop, which has become a kind of cemetery of history, is now an unusual tourist attraction. It should be remembered that it was originally planned to restore the exhibits gathered here, but a lack of funds caused the project to be abandoned.
Among them, you can see several Hungarian steam locomotives, such as the 301,000-pound MAV 424, with its characteristic red stars that gave the place its name. There is also the MAV 301 from 1911-1914, one of two such specimens that have survived to this day. The graveyard area also includes newer machines from the Soviet era—in some carriages, you can still find train tickets from the 1960s.
Wild dogs may roam the area
Visitors to this extraordinary facility must remember to exercise extreme caution. It is important to not venture too far into the woods, where you may encounter wild dogs. Istvántelek is not the only place with abandoned trains—similar ones can be found in Siberia, where wagons from the Stalin era have been discovered. More about this Russian train graveyard can be read here.