HEL — Coach operator FlixBus has reinstated the 666 bus service connecting Kraków to the Polish seaside resort of Hel in 2024. The route passes through major Polish regional towns and cities, including Warsaw.
The 666 bus service was previously operated by local company PKS Gdynia and was controversially nicknamed the 'Highway to Hel.' In 2023, the line number was changed from 666 to 669 following years of complaints from religious conservative groups who objected to the association of the number 666 with the destination Hel. The Bible identifies 666 as the 'number of the beast,' and one Polish religious group accused the bus company of 'spreading satanism.' Poland is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation where the Church has traditionally been influential.
Hel is located on the tip of the 22-mile (35km) Hel Peninsula, which extends from the northern coast of Poland into the Gulf of Gdańsk. Tourists visit Hel for its sandy beaches, ancient architecture, and seal sanctuary.
FlixBus spokesperson Aleksander Kalenik said: "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." In June 2023, a PKS Gdynia spokesperson said: "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." That comment referred to the prior operator’s decision to renumber the route and preceded FlixBus’s current service.