Hell on wheels?
You can now tell bus drivers to “go to Hel” without insult.
A Polish transit company has resurrected the controversial Bus 666 after it was rebranded several years ago under pressure from religious groups.
Cleverly dubbed the “Highway To Hell,” the daily 13-hour bus route run by FlixBus takes passengers from Kraków to the seaside resort town of Hel, with stops in major hubs including the capital Warsaw, the BBC reported.
“The number 666 was deliberately chosen as a marketing communication element, intended to increase the visibility of the connection on the popular holiday route to Hel,” FlixBus spokesperson Aleksander Kalenik told the Polish news service TVN24.
This marks a second coming for the notorious service, originally run by local company PKS Gdynia, which changed its name to 669 in 2023 after getting labeled “satanic” and “anti-Christian” by Catholic conservative groups, the Daily Mail reported.
They didn’t take too kindly to the connotation of Hel (similar to the English word “hell”) nor 666, the Biblical number of the beast — symbols that raised flags in the predominantly Roman-Catholic nation.
“The management board buckled under the weight of letters and requests that were sent to us, maybe not in large numbers, but periodically for many years, with a request to change the line number,” a PKS Gdynia spokesperson told local media at the time.
Local citizens were none too thrilled with the change.
“It was an advertisement for the whole world,” one Polish Facebook user commented under PKS Gdynia’s post. “I am convinced that there were tourists who would probably get there faster on the train, but for fun, they took bus 666.”
Another commentator chimed in, “What is Hel without 666.”
Now Polish commuters can once again get their kicks on route 666.
Along with revitalizing the cheeky name, the operator wanted to cater to travelers who have long craved a direct connection to Hel.
Located on the 22-mile-long Hel Peninsula, which protrudes off Poland’s scenic Northern coast, this seaside oasis is prized for its sandy beaches, ancient architecture and seal sanctuary.
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