I am a new fan of this site. I am from the Czech Republic, I am 60 years old. I took the train route from Budapest to Bucharest in the 70s, with my parents, mama and papa. Hello All friends!
Hahaha...you stop in my home town of SIMERIA...and i want to give you and update this railway station is now being renovated and all the infrastructure to speed arround 160km/h....and i saw all your videos on rail because also i am a fan of railway....i like your videos and hoppefully you will come back with a new video from full renovated station of Simeria!!!Wish you all the best
Beautiful scenery through the Carpathian mountains , what an amazing trip . I really hope one day I will do it as well . Romania is indeed a beautiful country .
Bringing back good memories. I fell in love with Romania after going on this train. I will go back there soon. Will probably fly to Bucharest this time but I am tempted with the sleeper train from Bucharest to Chisinau.
@@samtrak1204 As said in the video, the sleeper cars aswell as the dining cars are totally rundown and neglected. A fellow traveler told me that the train staff entered her room in the middle of the night, luckily she was awake. Also I think there is still a problem with Roma-Sinti gypsies breaking into your room and stealing from you and apparently the romanian train staff doesn't care at all.
well that is the consequence of 30 yrs of mismanagement, underinvestment, and almost a deliberate policy of neglecting the railways. it might seem odd to foreigners but before 1989 the situation was better, ridership was much greater and at least we could compare ourselves with neighbouring countries. now when i see the the russian railways they are just so much better than us. anyway the scenery is worth such a ride .
Nice video. I clicked on the video because I visited Romania, in 91? The scars from the fall of Ceaușescu, were still evident. I was on a business trip - waste of time really - but I found the people to be lovely and Bucharest, still had its charm - the boulevards and the architecture. It was a curious trip.😁
În mod sigur acest clip este postat cu o oarecare candoare.Realizatorul nu a punctat defel lipsurile sau slaba calitate a infrastructurii feroviare. Acestea(lipsurile)se subînţeleg doar urmărind clipul fără comentariu.Este inadmisibil ca in 2019 România să aibe cea mai slabă reţea feroviară. Acesta este trenul fantomă.E rușinos că CFR ul încă mai are in lucru trenuri goale.Cât despre viteză......s-o lăsăm pentru secolul următor!Vreau să-l felicit pe cel care a realizat materialul video.O imagine face cât o mie de cuvinte,nu-i așa??
Adevărat, doar Astra Trans Carpatic la noi in Romania ofera comfort pe bani putini (mai putini ca la CFR) si confort mai mare ca la cfr. Problemele sunt locomotivele si vagoanele CFR si INFRASTRUCTURA.
Adevar graiesti.....suntem deplorabili.....Doc7 a fost foarte cumsecade si nu ne-a facut de rusine. dar CFR ul este la pamant. Dezastru. Un prieten de-al meu din Slovenia a fost la noi si mi-a zis sincer ca ii prea multa mizerie in Romania si oameni foarte reci
I was travelled between Brasov-Sinaia-Bucharest on the same line in January 2019, just two months before this video, it was snowy time, the view was incredible. Although the CFR's cars are quite old, but the tickets were cheap and really easy to bought. In general, it was an enjoyable journey.
Excellent video, I enjoyed every moment of it. I love my country but I really wish for it to have better infrastructure and quality of service in the future. Cheers !
I just love rail travel and it's on my bucket list to do an overnight train through Europe don't care which one but vids like this can help me choose, the thought of overnight travel just rocks me to sleep and I keep telling my wife it's not too expensive if you factor in the price of the journey plus you're not paying for a hotel room for that night and you've got a full day in the city you arrive in,great vid
Jeez mate I can only assume you are in the USA if it is a bucket list thing, I did it a few times back in the 90s in Austria and Italy, it isn't at all expensive and as you say you aren't paying for a hotel room. I can recommend it, iit's really nice being rocked to sleep too and I like the whole thing of having meals or breakfast either served in your cabin/couchette, or taking them in the restaurant car. I suppose if you're in the states doing this in Europe seems very romantic, just as we in Europe look upon driving the route 66 as a kind of once-in-a-lifetime adventure. You know what they say; the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I'd also recommend the Shosoloza Meyl train running from Pretoria to Cape Town in South Africa, I got on at Johannesburg but it was still 26 hours through some epic places like Kimberley and across the Karoo mountain/desert area prior to reaching Cape Town. I remember an ostrich standing by the side of the line in the Karoo, looking at us as we pulled out of some station or other, but otherwise it isn't like you see giraffes and elephants lol it is after all not the Serengeti but South Africa which has been densely populated and tamed for centuries now. I wasn't in Premier which is like the Orient Express, but in First which is like what you see on a standard overnighter in Europe. Bearing in mind that third class is uncomfortable wooden benches in wagons without compartments it was still pretty comfortable
I used this train when travelling to Romania for the first time. We boarded in Budapest and got off in Sighișoara. It was also my first experience of travelling on board a EuroNight train.
Thanks for that video. It brougth back memories. I rode the "Orient Express" with original Wagon Lits sleeper car, many times in the 1970s from Vienna to Brasov. Sometimes even with steam engines pulling it. By that time it was the last remainder of the old pre-war Orient Express, still starting in Paris, split in Switzerland, the northern fork ending in Bucharest, the southern,, over Venice still went throuogh to Istanbul.
ÖBB1116 is a better option for the train because the Romanian locomotive can be replaced at Arad station in Romania with the ÖBB1116 going Arad Budapest Wien Hbf. In the Evening the same ÖBB1116 will run to Aachen Hbf Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen with the Duisburg-Oberhausen-Arnhem Utrecht Amsterdam coaches detached at Köln Hbf or Duisburg Hbf if the Aachen section is not running towards Brussels
Fascinating. Thanks for a great video with informative annotations. Back in 2013, I first got the taste of train travel round (mainland) Europe as I had to get a train from Vienna (Meidling - Hbf wasn't completed then) to Graz; direct flights to graz from the UK had stopped. When I was at Vienna Hbf a year or so later, I saw a train roll on from Moscow as well as trains to Budapest, Prague, Munich and Hamburg... which whetted my appetite. Dec 2017 I did Budapest => Bratislava => Vienna => Graz, stopping 2-3 days in each place and sampling the Christmas markets. Dec. 2018, I flew to Munich then did... Munich => Salzburg => Graz => Vienna => Bratislava => Budapest... then flew to Bucharest then too the train to Constanta. I walked to the People's Palace, opposite where the Christmas market was situated, from my hotel (about 20 mins or so) and then when it was time to travel, walked from my hotel (Capitol Hotel) to Gara de Nord. I wish I had videod all of that as it could have made interesting footage for RU-vid ! Oh well, next time.
I like the whole "hammer of Theseus" quality this train has. Swapping out coaches, locomotives, etc.but somehow it's still the same train. It also kind of feels like Amtrak, if more American trains were electrified. Slow, fairly dated, but the scenery is spectacular.
@@tonyofarrell2775 Exactly, the countryside can be enjoyed. As for Amtrak, it is only relevant in the Northeast because the US as vast airport infrastructure for rapid transit. Amtrak in other areas is only for adventurous travel. I’ve used the Acela often from Washington to Manhattan and the Albany to Manhattan along with the Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco. Two totally different experiences.
Hey!Thank you for this video.The thing is that Romanians travel a lot by bus or regional trains.Sometimes buses can be extremely cheap compared to train tickets.I also went once from Cluj to Bucharest with this kind of train and while the chairs area on second class was crowded,in the sleeping car,no so much.For Romanians,sleeping car is quite expensive raported to their money.
A very well-chosen route (3B+1W) and absolutely well-worth for the money paid for such an unforgettable railway travel👍🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴👍 Having visited Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Braşov before, I've always dreamed of such a rail travel that links these beautiful cities entirely😃so thank you for preparing this video, which proved me that my dream is not an impossible one😊👍👍👍👍👍😊
Ni Colas Having visited this part of Europe, I can easily say that the landscapes in Hungary, Romania and Ukraine is actually pictoresque and I has the most pleasant visual travel experience along the roads in different years and in different seasons in these countries😃🇭🇺🇷🇴🇺🇦😃
I took this train last week. I slept in a 4 bed couchette. In my opinion these compartments are more comfortable, because there is more space and you can open the windows all the way.
They are pretty good in keeping to the schedule. I did Vienna - Constanta several times as a youngster in the mid 1970s, which was a scheduled 24 hours, but we never made it under 30 ...
@@filipstravels5327 Sure. There was a regular train every week going at least from Vienna to Constanta (actually i believe it already started out in Zürich) called the 'Wiener Walzer" (Vienna Waltz). I did this three times in the mid seventies for a summer vacation at the black sea. Very adventurous. When going through Translylvania (hungarian minorities) the shades were pulled down and locked, so you could not see anything. And once we were pulled between Budapest and Bukarest by two steam engines. Over the mountains you had the impression you need to get out and help pushing. It was great and i would hate to miss this experience.
The Eastern Bloc countries (esp. Romania and Bulgaria) were interested in Western hard currency; so it was possible to visit these countries with a Western passport
Great video, but one important detail: Timis river can we see from train window between stations Arad-Deva-Alba Iulia. But by riding through Predeal pass we can see from the train windor Prahova river. I had opportunites to travel from Bratislava to Burgas by train in 2001 and 2004. I remember very well on steep rocky mountains between Brasov and Ploiesti, better before and after Sinaia.
@@StarLight10. I appologize, of course Mures, hungarian Maros river. Riding to Porta Orientalis pass, there can we see Timis river and after we drive through it (POP) Danube river. Shame on me.
i love these videos so real and informative I feel like I am travelling great to have discovered in these times when it is not possible for me to travel in Europe
I did not know anything about this trip until watching your video and wow, it was wonderful! I felt like traveling together with a very detailed guide on the train. I also loved the livery of CFR’s AVA200. You must be a railway enthusiast. Thanks so much for the neatly review!
Great trip going from Austria to romania. I really like the sleeper cars and Romania railways has much potential for the future perhaps some rail infrastructure and station upgrades is needed. I enjoyed the scenery change from fields to carpaithian moutains and the exploration of bucharest and also showing moutaintops at the end. So much food at the business dinner 😋. Your videos are very detailed from where the trains/locomotives were built to historical facts it is very interesting
Its a pity that Brasov Station hides the beauty of Brasov as its a great place to visit, I prefer winter there as a little less touristy but late Spring through mid Autumn, always a popular spot. I like the climb on the train out of Brasov up through Predeal and Sinaia. One thing about stock in Romania, may not be pretty on the outside sometimes, but comfy inside and nearly always punctual.
Excellent video !! since the time I wanted to see a video like this for this train! Small correction at 37:27 it's not a Z6100 EMU, it's a BB25500 Class with two coupons of RIB / RIO. But you're right the material belonged to the SNCF before. 😉 Greetings from France ! 😁
Was the air conditioning not working? As you had the window open all he way. Anyway I love these AVA200 sleeping cars. Looks like they run very smoothly, and the compartments (together with the Deluxe ones) look bigger and more comfortable than on Nightjet Comfortline sleepers.
I've never taken this train though I have the Budapest Bucharest train the "Ister" and that meal looks very familiar. Thanks for another great video Doc.
Have never seen so many attach/detach car operations on a single journey. Guessing by the "slam-slam" sound the car makes as it moves ( 35:40 ), in Romania they end both rail sections at the same place like toy trains, rather than staggered to get "clickety-clack" which is (IMHO) much more soothing to the nerves. OTOH down the other side was wonderful; assuming welded.
traveling across the carpathian mountains by train is probably one of best things you can do in this half of Europe if u have time.Not very big mountains but the Carpathian mountains chain seen by train is gold. a painter would find enough to work for a decade.
Beautiful trip! If only the regional inland trains would be half as clean as this one! We (living in Germany) travelled 2018 from Targu-Mures to Bucharest, the seatings were the same as before 20 years or so, but at least clean. But the toilets were a horror, I didn't drink anything almost until arriving in Bucharest to avoid them :-(
@@lifeandcomedy1354 This is one of the professional videos I've ever watched!💖👍Nevertheless, there are some innacuracies in your documentary; Thus, with regard to your affirmation at 27:03(”It seems that no one has touched the line since electrification in the 1950s”) I strongly specify as a good connoiseur(having a good knowledge on the electrification of Romanian Railways' network) that electrification of the Brașov to Teiuș railway was completed in September 1981! 😅🙂🙁Romania's 1st standard gauge electrified railway line (Brașov - București Nord) was operational in February 1969.🙁🙁 With regard to your writting at 33:15 ”Brașov has 500K inhabitans at was called Orașul Stalin until 1960” please read carefully this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brașov. The Predeal Southern Ramp was modernized between 2009 and 2011 and it has been opened in September 2011. Did you use the tripod on Prahova Valley? Are you either a German or an Austrian person?
Great job! I visited Romania in 2015 and experienced several IC, IR and regional trains, but not this one, unfortunately. Loved the country. Cheers from Portugal.
@@cutarecutarescu hi ,I am from Ireland,long time ago I read an article about the "Merry Cemetery" in Sanputa ,and I just had to go there ,I love brasov.and maramures ,but I have a friend from Cluj ,so thats where I go to the most ,Cluj is a very busy city ,but I like the cafes ,the parks in Cluj are very clean and near the city centre.I've travelled from Dublin Ireland to Cluj by bus ,its a 40 hour journey but I love it ,a lot better than flying. Now there's direct flights from Dublin to Cluj ( blue air) so thats how I travel now.But I want to go on the train to Brasov ,but I miss that bus! Take care.
@@tonyofarrell2775 awesome! Cluj is the most modern city in romania (maybe Oradea and Timisoara are the same), great university there, great hub for IT startups, etc, then Brasov has the ski resort and mountains near it. so nice to see foreigners loving romania. i've been in UK (scotland) for 6 months - i like the neatness of everything (small towns and villages)!!! i assume ireland is somewhat like Scotland. I drank Guinness with an old scot there who told me that scots and Irish people are united against the 'oppressive and arrogant england' :) Nice man! He also said that real men drink stout, lager is for pussies (it has that pee like color) :)))
I invite you to make this journey again with train 347 Dacia. From Curtici to Simeria is opened the new 160Kmh railway line and all railway stations are new.
Outstanding! Liked very much! Traveling by train may be slower than by an airplane but it gives you the taste of discovering the countries you pass through. A very fascinating way to move. Thank you for sharing and for the details you gave along the whole journey.
Great Video. I have a Trip Idea for you. Until end of August there are nostalgia sleeper trains from budapest to Split Croatia and Koper slovenia. I was there and its beautiful! Try the Split train from BP.Keleti. 18:54 departure and arrives at 9 o clock in the morning. And the last 1 hour before Split your train goes up in the mountains and you can see the sea. Wow
Interesting to see Romania again after much traveling here in tbe past. However I went from Budapest via Oradea and Cluj on my journey to Brasov. Last time in Gara Nord was in 2005. Subscribed
Thank you for this video and especially for all the information provided. You have documented well and I appreciate the work you have done. From everything you saw I hope you made a bit of a good impression and we are waiting for you in ROMANIA with the international train ISTANBUL 🇹🇷 SOFIA🇧🇬 BUCHAREST🇷🇴 CONSTANTA🏖 to see the Black Sea, but to come in summer. Thank you and all the best with new videos. 🤗🙏
Great thanks for sharing this nice video ! Also interesting comments about history . Seems low number of passangers make low invest and mainenance possible . But even much better than driving myself . Kind regards !
Hi 👋I'm from India.My job is Medical Representative.I like Traveling. I enjoyed the ride with you in my imagination.I like your patience 👍(Explains about your total journey)and videography 😍🤝🤝.
Very nice video as always a pleasure to watch it. But why do you call trains in Romania with "D"? they are all IR (inter-regio) - long run trains or R (regio) - short run trains.
Enjoyed your video ,as it's a trip I hope to take ,you say toilets in sleeping car are dirty? Can't understand this ,as I've always foud Romanians to be very clean and tidy.I've travelled from Ireland to Cluj- Napoca by bus (Tarsin) several times for 230.00 Euro return.good valu ,but am hoping to travel by train to Brasov from Vienna I guss. Any advice anyone?
amazing video of the dacia.....2 years ago werner stiller revealed that on the leipzig- munich train GDR documents where smuggled to the west and rumours never endet that also the dacia was document courier for romania and hungary in cold war...but never confirmed....
Früher ist der Balt-Orient-Express Berlin-Stadtbahn- Dresden--Prag--Budapest- Bukarest gefahren, mit diesen bin ich direkt im Schlafwagen von Berlin- nach Bukarest gefahren, Da waren es noch total andere Zeiten und die Grenzkontrollen waren ziemlich scharf. In Arad(Rumänien) wurde dieser Internationale Zug umlagert von Kindern und Jugendlichen, welche Kaugummi Coca Cola etc. haben ( gebettelt) wollten. Der Schlafwagen Betreuer sagte jedoch uns vor der Einfahrt in den Bahnhof Arad, bitte lasst die Fenster geschlossen und gebt den Kindern keine Geschenke...denn zuerst hatte unser Nachbar Abteil Coca Cola und Kaugummi aus den Fenstern gegeben und als nichts mehr die Kinder bekommen hatten, warfen diese mit Schottersteine auf die Fenster, bis die Polizei einschritt. Sonst war die Fahrt super, wer gerne Bahn fährt. In Bukarest angekommen, war der Bahnsteig total abgeriegelt durch Sicherheitsbeamte. Bis zum Ausgang des Bahnhofs war das so. Unser Zubringer zum Hotel International, wurde auch bewacht. Mit einer Polizei Eskorte ging es zum Hotel. Kurz um, die Bahnfahrt war sehr angenehm. Ich werde in der Zukunft, sicherlich noch einmal diese Fahrt von Wien aus nach Bukarest unternehmen. Danke für das Video. Meine Fahrt von Berlin war noch, als der Eiserne Vorhang war( DDR) etc.
11:57 Trains from Bratislava now arrive at Nyugati. For some reason, they swapped from Keleti. I travelled Keleti => Bratislava in Dec. 2018 but Dec. 2018 I did the reverse journey but arrived at Nyugati.
If the train using the Sturovo, Szob - Budapest line, the Nyugati is more direct, than arrival to the Keleti, which adds about 15 min. unnecessarly to the travel.
@@lewis72 I have no idea frankly. I speculate, that either one or the other station went through renovation, or the lines going towards Nyugati. You see I no longer live there, but overseas. However I worked for MÁV in my younger years during the seventies in Rákosrendező, and I can tell you that the standard way to usher trains from the direction of Szob was always to the Nyugati, because it was the shortest route, the most direct railway-station for those trains coming from that direction. The same of course was the rule about outgoing trains. Those who travelled along the northern shore of the Danube to Bratislava, followed by Brno, Prague, Dresden and Berlin started their journey from the Nyugati. If not always, at least most of the time. This was a popular destination then, because a lot of young Hungarians worked in the DDR at that time, among them my older brother. Interestingly, this is the shortest way to reach the state border from Bp. It is barely 70 km. to Sturovo, (Párkány), due to the Trianon butchery cutting-up my country.
@@TechnoNexis De ce sa nu ne vaitam? "O regula"?? Lol, e o stare de fapt, a fi revoltat pe tara ta de cacat (implicit si transportul feroviar) nu e sinonim cu a te vaita. Tocmai, ca si nenea care are acest canal a sesizat-o in acest clip, prin comparatie cu celelalte 2 tari din care a plecat. De aia si-au tot permis politicienii sa faca ce vor aici, ca lumea nu le da in cap.. Atitudine de pierzatori si umili.. Ma surprinde ca numele tau e force :) Unde e forta? :)
