There happens to be a national railway company in Hungary called MÁV. As one could guess, it takes care of the passenger railway traffic in Hungary. But in addition it has ability to provide some added value to its customers. I have been using its services almost every month during these two years. So, let me share some of the highlights.

I start with the quality of the tracks. Not only some of the tracks are wobbly and therefore prevent trains using their full speed, but the power lines have also some issues. On Friday there was a black out after Hatvan so we had to change train. The second train had a diesel engine and we were able to continue traveling towards Miskolc. I was lucky as I used normal fast train because afterwards I was told that the next Inter City train was stuck for more than an hour and the conductor was not able to inform customers at all.

Last year I had similar experience while traveling towards Budapest in the late evening. I don't know whether train's engine broke down or was it a problem with power lines. In this case people were sitting in the pitch black train around half an hour until they decided to take a bus. I had no clue how far we were from Budapest but finally I ended up to my flat. In these both cases I received information from fellow passengers who were able to speak English or German - thank you once again. There is no announcements in the train at all in such cases.

But there is at least one thing which is taken care by MÁV. Heating works very well in train cars. No matter whether it is sunny summer day or cold winter - heating works. In some cars there is also air conditioning but the heating is still happily warming freezing people. Because of this heating dilemma windows are all the time open and naturally this causes train cars are very noisy. Ear plugs recommended.

Then once I had a problem getting out from train. But this problem was not because of MÁV. There was a man blocking a doorway with his drunken and passed out body. The sliding door was simply stuck and I had to push and kick that door with some serious effort. So, if you happen to be Hungarian alcoholic who has habit to pass out in train - now you know how come you received those bruises.

But instead of just suffering one can experience heroic moments, too. On the way to Miskolc I was waiting at the doorway and there is a toilet next to the exit. A man went in to that toilet and after some time I started to hear banging. First I though that poor sob has had too spicy food lately but then I saw the real reason as the handle of the toilet fell on the floor. I took the handle and I opened the toilet's door. Poor guy could not get out and he was really happy when I let him out.