Little Green Train

The HÉV is totally out of my normal route through the city, and, though I've been living in Budapest for over 10 years, don't remember ever taking the lines towards Csepel or Gödöllő, so that's one of the things on my need to do in 2014 list. The Szentendre line though is very close to my heart, as, yes, it's the magic route to Sziget come August. The name HÉV is also a fascinating opportunity to get lost in translation: the abbreviaton comes from Helyiérdekű vasút, which means train of local interest, and is pretty much self explanatory. The plain old, non abbreviated Hungarian word hév however stands for vehemence, so yes, I have seen the phrase let's take the vehemence to Szentendre more than once. The  HÉV is not particulary vehement though, in case it does not catch fire-which it rather often does, though not in a catastrophical way- it will trudge along at a rather snailish pace, to the probable dismay of commuters but the enjoyment of those who want to catch a glimpse of suburban landscapes.