Terminal Operations: Part 3.
Budapest Nyugati pályaudvar (Western station) is one of three termini for mainline rail services in the city. Due to the high number of commuter, intercity, and long-distance trains that arrive at the station, Nyugati is constantly bustling with action!
When an intercity or long-distance train arrives, passengers disembark and the consist must be moved to clear the track for following trains. Often times, some or all of the consist will be used again for a departing train. In this case, a locomotive is added to the rear of the train and whatever cars are needed are cut from the rest of the consist. In this three-photo series, we'll see how this process happens.
After the departing train has left and a shunter has taken away any remaining cars, the locomotive that brought the original train into the terminal will pull out to head for motor storage, service tracks, or to be attached to another outbound train. This time the locomotive was a MÁV class V43, which was originally built by Hungarian manufacturer Ganz between 1963 and 1982. This particular locomotive was also refitted in 1999 and became a V43.2, with a paint scheme matching the driving trailers (cab cars) it is able to operate with.
