Polish bus company drops 666 route to Hel after ‘satanism’ complaints

Management board ‘buckled under the weight of letters and requests,’ says operator

To Hel and back? The soon-to-be-replaced 666 bus (Reuters)

Travellers in Poland will soon be unable to journey along the highway to Hel on the 666 bus after the company which operates the route was bombarded with complaints that it was “satanic stupidity”.

The route, a reference to the Biblical “number of the beast”, has long been considered a joke, but now the company behind the bus, PKS Gdynia, has decided to change the number to 669, reports Sky News.

The new service begins on 24 June.

The company announced the change on social media, writing that “this year, we’re turning the last 6 upside down.”

The move comes after a campaign by Christian groups and individuals for almost a decade.

“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,” said Marcin Szwaczyk, spokesperson for PKS Gdynia.

In 2018, Catholic group Fronda derided the use of the number as “satanic stupidity”.

“Hell is the negation of humanity. It is eternal death and suffering. You can only laugh at this reality if you simply don’t understand what it is,” it wrote in an article. They blasted the bus route as “scandalous anti-Christian propaganda”, warning that it was “just the tip of the iceberg of a much greater problem.”

Despite the opposition, Mr Szwaczyk said route 666 could return if passengers demand 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.

Despite its name, Hel sounds positively heavenly. The seaside resort, found at the tip of a sand bar peninsula, is lapped by the Baltic sea, and visitors will find pine forests and secret beaches.