Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, is well connected to other cities in Europe, being situated close to the borders of Austria, Czechia and Hungary. However what about its second largest city, Košice, also famous for its old town?

Well, if you’re travelling to Czechia or Austria from here, you would probably take advantage of one of Slovakia’s ‘InterCity’ or ‘Fast’ trains westbound with an excellent dining car – see my travel report here to learn more. If you’re travelling to Hungary you could also travel via Bratislava, however, there is a much faster option available. This train doesn’t serve the capital nor any other station in Slovakia other than Košice, giving it the title of Europe’s lesser-known international train.

Every two hours during the day, the EuroCity Hornád, named after the river the route follows, and operated jointly by the Slovakian (ZSSK) and Hungarian Railways (MÁV), departs Košice for Budapest Keleti, or eastern, station. The train is usually operated with only three carriages.

I booked to take this train in September 2023 from Košice across the border through to Miskolc-Tiszai – why? Find out below.

First, let’s a look at the all important route map of the EuroCity Hornád for the full route through to Budapest.

Departure from Košice

Železničná stanica Košice or Košice railway station is located approximately one kilometre from the centre of the city. As is the growing trend of many stations in Europe, Kosice station also has a shopping centre within the same building. There is no catering on the EuroCity Hornád, so it’s a good thing the station has shops to stock up on food and drink supplies. Big shout out especially to Lidl.

Onboard the EuroCity Hornád

The EuroCity Hornád usually conveys three carriages for the full journey from Košice to Budapest: two Second Class and one First Class all provided by ZSSK adorning their classic red and white colour scheme.

For a train to be classified as EuroCity it must meet twenty criteria that cover comfort, speed, food service and cleanliness although the EuroCity Hornád is unusual in that it doesn’t quite meet the official criteria. It falls short on the provision of catering as mentioned.

The journey of the EuroCity Hornád is considerably shorter than other EuroCity services, and as a result probably doesn’t warrant a restaurant carriage. As Slovakia and Hungary are well known for their excellent dining cars on their longer international routes, and some domestic routes it is a shame to not have this option. Do check out my other travel reports if you’d like to see what’s on offer on these.

As the train enters and runs in Hungary, the EuroCity Hornád is reclassified as a more appropriate ‘InterCity’ type train in Hungary, bearing the same name in Hungarian, Hernád. I say “more appropriate” in regard to the facilities onboard, not for any such political reasons.

At Miskolc-Tiszai, the three carriages increase up to seven as the train is joined by the domestic train InterCity Zemplén in Hungary from Sátoraljaújhely to Budapest with carriages provided by MÁV-START. The now blue and red train continues forward to the Hungarian capital.

First Class Accommodation

First Class on the EuroCity Hornád is typically formed of seating in a compartment coach. The main difference from Second Class is the compartment widths with nine compartments with extra legroom compared to the normal ten compartments per carriage. The carriage is typically quieter than Second Class, so all in all you’re paying for more space. There are power sockets available as there is in Second Class.

Second Class Accommodation

In the two Second Class carriages that run the full route of the EuroCity Hornád, normally there is one compartment style and the other an open saloon. On the day I travelled the train was formed of exclusively compartment carriages but it is a lottery of what you’ll get – all part of the surprise.

As mentioned at Miskolc-Tiszai the train is joined by further Second Class carriages of the Hungarian Railways.

Border Crossings

As both Slovakia and Hungary are EU countries and in the Schengen Area, there are no document checks across the border on the EuroCity Hornád. There is only a locomotive change from a ZSSK to a MÁV-START one at Miskolc-Tiszai station.

Scenery

The route of the EuroCity Hornád is pretty scenic with countryside views. Although the train follows the River Hornád this will be a challenge to spot out of the window.

Take a look at the below video with some scenic highlights on the route.

Arrival at Miskolc-Tiszai

Miskolc is famous for its cave baths and castle and definitely warrants a future visit. This time however, it would be a very quick eight minute one to change trains.

Miskolc-Tiszai is a key interchange from the EuroCity Hornád to Hungary’s bizarre circular InterCity Tokaj train (which I wrote about here) – a useful connection that serves multiple cities across Hungary in one train. On this trip we were headed for Debrecen.

The train then continues onto Budapest’s Keleti station

Booking and Fares

The EuroCity Hornád offers fares at a very good value with fares as low as 0,08€ per mile in Standard Class and 0,11€ per mile in First Class.

It is possible to book this train on many different booking engines, including third party suppliers. They don’t offer the same fares, however. The ticket is often the cheapest at the website of the Hungarian Railways, MAV-START but it’s also worth checking the Slovakian Railways, ZSSK.

Websites such as Omio and Trainline offer tickets for this journey, however, they pull their data from the Austrian Railways, OBB, which for this journey tends to be more expensive.

For the trip from Košice to Budapest it can be cheaper to book a split ticket at Miskolc-Tiszai, however, you’ll likely be allocated a different seat for each journey leg, so bear this in mind as a risk if the train is busy.

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Conclusion

The EuroCity Hornád may not be the most popular connection to and from Slovakia, and may be limited in onboard facilities without catering, but it does offer a convenient connection from the east of Slovakia to Hungary’s capital and other cities in eastern Hungary. The journey is a highly relaxing one with scenic countryside views all the way, so do take a good book and enjoy.

This travel report was first published in July 2024.

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