‘666’ bus to Hel, Poland, changed after complaints from Christian groups

Isabel Keane

June 14, 2023

Some say the road to Hel is paved with good intentions — but the bus that gets you there certainly isn’t.

That’s according to some conservative Christian groups, who say the “666” bus to Hel, Poland, has devilish intentions since its route number represents Satan and it goes to a place that sounds like “hell.”

The local bus operator PKS Gdynia has responded to the complaints by announcing its decision to change the route number from 666 to 669.

“This year we are turning the last 6 upside down!” the local bus company wrote on social media Monday.

Marcin Szwaczyk of PKS Gdynia told Reuters the company made the change after receiving complaints from Christian groups for nearly 10 years.

“The Management Board buckled under the weight of letters and requests that were sent to us, maybe not in large numbers, but cyclically for many years with a request to change the line number,” Szwaczyk said.

The 666 bus shuttled between the village of Dębki and the town of Hel, a popular tourist destination, during the summertime.

The local bus operator PKS Gdynia has held firm in their decision to change the number from 666 to 669.

While the new number worked to appease some, others were thrilled to lose something that put Hel on the map.

“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.”

The bus has long garnered negative attention from Christian groups for its number.

via REUTERS

The bus has long gained negative attention from such groups, including in 2018 when Catholic group Fronda said the bus route’s number was “spreading anti-Christian propaganda.”

“Hell is the negation of humanity. It is eternal death and suffering,” the group wrote in an article at the time. “You can only laugh at this reality if you simply don’t understand what it is.”

While the new 669 summer service begins on June 24, Szwaczyk said 666 could return if enough passengers demanded it.

“If in fact the response is large and strong enough to restore the line 666, it seems to me that we will listen to our passengers and change this number,” he said.

With Post wires.

https://historycooperative.org/hel-norse-goddess-of-death

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