Christians got Route 666 to Hel canceled. It's finally getting resurrected.
After religious complaints killed Poland's infamous bus route, a private company is reviving it as a tourist attraction
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In 2023, the Poland bus company PKS Gdynia announced that it would officially end bus route 666 to the city of Hel, halting one of the truly great marketing opportunities for that city.
But that bus route has just been resurrected.
A quick reminder of what happened in 2023: The bus company issued a notice that Route 666 would be renumbered 669.
Why would they do that? It appeared that the link between the town name and the bus number was creating more problems for the company than it was worth, especially given that this was a coincidence to begin with. In recent years, they were getting a lot of complaints from Christians. One conservative Catholic website even lamented the “malicious” route number, saying that it “strikes at the Christian order of the Polish state and its foundations, and hence… at the good of all of us.” As if the numbering was done specifically to persecute Christians.
That theory was later confirmed. While the company offered no public explanation of their decision, one official told a local news outlet that religious complaints were the basis for the shift:
… Marcin Szwaczyk, who oversees PKS Gdynia’s route planning, confirmed that such complaints were indeed behind the firm’s decision.
“For years, we have received objections from opponents of this number,” he told local news service Trojmiasto.pl. “So we changed it from 666 to 669, [which is] less controversial and less conspicuous.”
However, he revealed that, in the two days since the change was announced, the firm has been inundated with complaints “from the other side” by those who want the old 666 back.
As for the city itself, Hel is a (very real) town on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. It’s so popular with tourists that one enthusiast noted, “Hel is like paradise on earth.” The fact that, since 2006, the “666 to Hel” had been a real journey you could take undoubtedly boosted the local economy. (Just think of the shirts!) The fact that it’s a seaside resort town only made everything better.
Such numbering isn’t even all that unique. In 2017, Finnair flight 666 flew to Helsinki on Friday the 13th, leading to all kinds of headlines about Flight 666 to HEL on the unluckiest day of the year. When you place unwarranted importance on certain numbers or places, you shouldn’t be surprised when coincidences occur.
But here’s the good news.
A private German-owned bus company called FlixBus has now launched a new seasonal route from Krakow to Hel, and you better believe they’re using Route 666 to do it. And just for good measure, the full route with all the stops takes 13 hours to complete.
A representative of FlixBus, Aleksander Kalenik, confirmed to broadcaster TVN that “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”.
He added that the company had, before making its decision, conducted analysis of passenger reactions and potential reputational damage, but found that the response was mainly positive or neutral.
Hey, would you look at that? Most people didn’t think anything of it because why should they?! It was just religious zealots who freaked out over it.
FlixBus is fully leaning into the joy of all this:
[FlixBus Eastern Europe managing director Michał] Leman dismissed the controversy surrounding the route.
“It’s vacations. Let’s have fun, let’s do some jokes about the thing,” he told CBS News on Monday. “I don’t think that there is anything bad in that.”
The route will run once a day during the summer season. Tickets are under $30 (USD) for anyone curious enough to go on the Highway to Hel. From what I can gather, the inaugural trip will take place on June 25 and the final one will run on August 29.
(via Notes from Poland. Portions of this article were published earlier)
Please explain to me, like I'm 5yo, how religion is not insane.
For a religion whose "leader" is supposed to be "all mighty" the followers sure are weak and impressionable. Literally everything they see, hear, or are around is going to cause "the debil" to get them. Movies are the devil and Satan will possess you if you watch them. Music is the devil and will cause evil to get your soul. Now a fucking bus route will cause evil to get you. I thought their "faith" protected them? Do they even see themselves? Like, this shit is ridiculous.