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All Hungary Budapest Istvántelek Train Yard
Istvántelek Train Yard is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Istvántelek Train Yard

The abandoned "Red Star Train Graveyard" is the final rusting place for precious artifacts of train history.

Budapest, Hungary

Added By
Christine Williamson
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CAPTION
MAV 424, the “Red Star.”   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Graffiti on an abandoned train car.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Istvántelek train yard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
One of the two remaining MAV 301 engines in the world   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
A 1960s MAV V43 electric engine.   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Inside a Soviet era train car.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Abandoned Istvántelek train yard.   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Abandoned Istvántelek train yard.   Ádám Szedlák/CC BY 2.0
Red Star Train Graveyard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
The Red Star Train Graveyard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Buildings in the Red Star Train Graveyard.   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
Red Star Train | Urbex Travel   Arkadiusz Szpicer
  toryhill65 / Atlas Obscura User
  toryhill65 / Atlas Obscura User
  toryhill65 / Atlas Obscura User
  toryhill65 / Atlas Obscura User
  toryhill65 / Atlas Obscura User
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
Abandoned Istvántelek train yard.   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Red Star Train Graveyard   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Inside a train car.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
May 2017   rostanetek / Atlas Obscura User
May 2017   rostanetek / Atlas Obscura User
Nature is slowly winning the fight against steel.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
One of the newer engines, a MAV BDVmot.   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Freight cars claimed to have carried Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz during WWII.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
The MAV BDVmot, a 1980s passenger train nicknamed “the caterpillar.”   Christo/CC BY-SA 4.0
Nature is taking over the train yard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Abandoned Istvántelek train yard   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Engines in Istvántelek Train Yard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Great steam engines rotting away at the Red Star Train Graveyard.   Ádám Szedlák/CC BY 2.0
Decay and beauty at the Red Star Train Graveyard.   Ádám Szedlák/CC BY 2.0
The MAV 424 engine.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Red Star Train Graveyard.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
Paradise for train lovers.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
May 2017   rostanetek / Atlas Obscura User
May 2017   rostanetek / Atlas Obscura User
May 2017   rostanetek / Atlas Obscura User
Many old steam engines found their way into the decaying depot.   URBEX Hungary/CC BY 2.0
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
  Red Star Train Graveyard | Urbex Travel
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About

The abandoned Istvántelek Train Yard (Istvántelki főműhely), otherwise known as the "Red Star Train Graveyard," occupies a vast area of land outside Budapest. More than 100 locomotives and train cars rot away, some in deteriorating depots, others out in the field. Among these are some very rare train engines, and a few cars that are said to have transported prisoners to Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

Built at the beginning of the 20th century as a repair yard for the national railway, only a few southern parts of the train yard are still in use, while most of it is abandoned.

Two large depots, a few smaller sheds and open-air areas are scattered with locomotives and railcars, some of them very ancient, others more recent, from Hungary's time as part of the Soviet Regime. Some of the trains were brought here to be repaired and exhibited in the Budapest Railway Museum but never made it to the display and were instead left behind in the train yard.

There are a few gems rusting away in the graveyard that are sure to make any train enthusiast's heart beat faster. A few Hungarian MAV 424 steam engines weigh in at 137 tons although they no longer bear a red star on their fronts, which earned the train yard its nickname. There is also an engine of the MAV 301 series, used from 1911 to 1914, which is one of only a few still in existence.

Among the more recent items in the train graveyard are some engines and cars from the Soviet era, inside of which rail tickets from the 1960s can still be found. Altogether the train graveyard offers a great alternative to the usual Budapest tourism sites, not only for train lovers, but for anyone with an eye for history. The engines and cars are slowly losing their battle against nature, and before long the trains may be entirely obscured by overgrown plant life. 

Related Tags

Trains Abandoned Industrial Soviet History Holocaust Steam

Know Before You Go

You can find an entrance gate at 47°33'12.1"N 19°06'11.0"E . As of July 2017, there is no public access and papers are needed to get in. It is a industrial area so it is possible that you could sneak in at night or on a Sunday. The fences at the north side are low enough to climb if you watch out for the barbed wire. It is recommended to stay near the first two northern buildings, as there is a guard post toward the south, with train conductors coming and going through the day. However, an approach from south is also possible. Avoid going too far into the woods, as there are stray dogs and guard dogs near some of the southern buildings. Also beware of summer mosquitos inside.

Community Contributors

Added By

Christine Williamson

Edited By

lilli, hrnick, Molly McBride Jacobson, smiller18...

  • lilli
  • hrnick
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • smiller18
  • villekulo
  • tonysed
  • Urbex Travel
  • tomaxuser
  • rostanetek
  • toryhill65

Published

January 20, 2017

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  • www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2812432/End-line-rusting-relics-eerie-Hungarian-train-graveyard-including-carriages-carried-Jews-deaths-Auschwitz.html
  • http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/529130/Haunting-Train-Carriages-Graveyard-Hungary-Auschwitz
  • http://www.awesomeexplorations.com/exploring-red-star-train-graveyard-budapest-hungary/
Istvántelek Train Yard
113 Taksony sor
Budapest, 1155
Hungary
47.549135, 19.10527
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