The first of thousands of migrants reached the Austrian border town of Nickelsdorf last night after the Austrian and German governments agreed to accept them.
Around 1,200 people travelled across Hungary by foot and car, while many more remained at Budapest’s Keleti railway station where they had been stranded for the past few days.
However, in a surprise change of policy, the Hungarian government then announced it would provide buses to take the migrants and refugees to the Austrian border, where they poured into the small town of Nickelsdorf. The town’s population of around 1,700 now looks set to be dwarfed by the migrant influx.
Trains are now running every 30 minutes, taking them from Nickelsdorf to the Austrian capital Vienna as quickly as possible to stop the town being overrun.
A policeman gestures as a bus of migrants arrives at the Hungarian-Austrian border, from where they will walk to the village of Nickelsdorf. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants who are entering Austria on foot walk towards the village Nickelsdorf. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants who are entering Austria on foot walk towards the village Nickelsdorf (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
(JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants cross the Austrian border. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
(JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants board a train (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants board a train (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants arrive on the Hungarian-Austrian border (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants look on before boarding a train (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
(JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Migrants smile standing in a bus (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
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