Yeah, only that he is now using borderline click bait thumbnails. Like this one: “Falling apart”… Didn’t hear anything like that in the video but instead he stated he slept for solid 7 hours and had one of the best night’s sleep. Looking at you @SuperalbsTravels
@@marcd6897You can literally see the tap handle and window winder falling off in the video. Maybe you should spend more time paying attention, and less time whining in the comments?
60 years sounds really old until I realize that there are coaches still in regular service on my local commuter railroad here in the US that are 71 years old (on Metra, serving the Chicago area)
I travelled by train in Romania last year and had a nice experience. But there is so much unused potential in Romania. They have way to much car traffic and need to update their train infrastructure as well as implementing a regularised scheduling system with trains running every one or two hours on busy routes, especially to optimize commuting. I also saw that on the route from Brasov to Sibiu nearly every station we came across was equipped with staff and they have to give way for the train. That's a signalling technique that's incredibly inefficient. There could be so many more people riding trains in Romania.
Woww, this was quite a bit ago. This train no longer operates like this in 2024. Being the biggest Romanian Rail RU-vidr, with my own channel, I travel a lot and review all the active routes and trains from Romania. The train with the same number only goes from Cluj to Iasi. A train on this exact route goes all the day, with 4-5 class 2 wagons, from morning until night. I am sad that this train doesn't operate anymore on the whole route. None the less, thank you for posting this video, I really enjoyed it.
Oh, ce mă bucur că urmărești pe Superlabs. A pleasant surprise. O veste tristă though, cică din 31 Martie 2024 vor scoate vagonul de dormit pe trenul de noapte Timișoara - Iași și retur. O să rămână doar cușetele. Nu știu motivul CFR Călători fiindcă încă nu mi-au răspuns.
@@CalinFR Da, I-l urmaresc. Stai putin, la care tren de Iasi - Timisoara scot vagonul de dormit? 1763 / 1765 ? Cel de noapte prin Sineria - Arad? Ca atunci o sa ma pun repede sa fac o calatorie pe vagonul de dormit.
@@VALTERPATRICKOFFICIAL exact, la 1765/1763. Ultima dată în care circulă vagonul de dormit (as per CFR sales) e 23 martie 2024. Apoi ia o pauză întreg trenul până în 30 martie din cauza lucrărilor între Simeria și Arad (rămâne Cluj-Iasi doar) și după această dată nu mai revine vagonul de dormit deloc, pe nici un segment.
@@CalinFR abia am mers cu el acum o săptămână. De ce mai exact scot vagonul de dormit? Eu cum mai circul civilizat dintr-un capăt într-altul al țării? 😨
The train is taking such a circuitous route due to (never-ending) track reconstruction and upgrade works. Normally, the train runs either via Oradea - Cluj, but that's closed for electrification and upgrading. Alternatively, it runs via Arad, but that too is partially closed and severely capacity restricted for upgrading works. Even Timisoara - Lugoj is normally worked via the electrified Recas line, but that's capacity and speed restricted for upgrading works, so the train is diverted via the very rural Buzias line, which normally only sees Desiro DMUs and those tiny ancient rural railbuses. By the way, those archaic railbuses are finally going away in a few years - if you want to experience riding in a 1930s railbus based on freight car technology, powered by a repurposed mining engine, sitting on 1970s plastic seats, going 30 km/h, now is your time!
Thanks for the hint. Am leaving for Interrail next week and Romania is one likely target. (And yes, I know that using an Interrail ticket in Romania hardly is worth it. But I will be travelling on more expensive railways, too.)
@@TangoMikeLima If you want to travel through Romania, Vagonweb and their excellent consist listings are your best friend -- standards differ widely with CFR -- some of the rolling stock is quite modern and rather really nice (21-76, 21-86, 20-83, 10-90, 70-91, 44-31 and quite a few others); other stock is ancient, in very poor shape or outright terrible for other reasons (20-49, 20-68, 22-76, 22-96, Desiros, the double-deckers...). The difference between hours of torment and a very pleasant journey may be as little as half an hour's wait - and you can't tell from the train number or anything else, but Vagonweb gives you that power. If you're planning Romania, try some less-beaten paths (with worse track!) -- the most beautiful lines are rarely used by visitors - Brasov to Deda and Suceava to Ilva Mica. Brasov to Bucharest, which most rail enthusiasts take, is beautiful, but only for the hour or so to Sinaia. And, if you're up for adventure, extremely slow speeds, and breathtaking scenery, go to Sighetu Marmatiei. It's, however, the slowest trip imaginable; it's a hundred miles or so of what can only be described as a heritage railway still somehow operated in mainline traffic despite not seeing any upgrade since about 1920. And there's a great heritage steam-driven narrow gauge railway (the Vaser valley) half way up the line.
Happy to see global trains system thru ur videos. This Romanian Train, despite being old, provides the basic necessities for a traveller. Seems very identical to south Asian trains.
The general rule with trains is the older the better. In continental Europe, the best were in the late 1960s. In the UK, it was the 1930s. Even the BR Mark 1 were not entirely an improvement on the 1930s stock built by the LMS and Southern Railway. There is still some comfortable elderly stock running in Sweden.
What beautiful sleeper coaches. So much nicer and more comfortable looking than sterile modern ones which look and feel like something from a hospital or a supermarket toilet. I wish we still had sleeper trains like this in England. Fit for royalty, yes, but this was normal standard once
One of my sweetest childhood memories: Going on a family vacation in one of those carriages in the early 90s. By opening up a divider, two of those rooms could be combined to one big family room, which was pretty cool.
Great video, thanks a lot! 👍😍👍 I know this older type of sleeping car very well. They were owned by DSG (Deutsche Schlaf- und Speisewagen Gesellschaft) and later on by TEN (Trans Euro Nacht) and commonly used on DB Nighttrains originating in Germany to destinations like Rome, Vienna or Copenhagen until the earlier 1990's. From my own experience I can tell how comfy and cozy they were. I truly loved travelling onboard these sleeping cars overnight and still like them much better over the modern new ones we have these days like on ÖBB's Nightjet. Nice to see they are still in use elsewhere! Again thanks for your great video, it brought back nice memories to me! Greetings from Germany, Simone 🙋
Yes we may see again how the Europeans (in this case) managed to make more money by lowering the quality of the features and offering less comfort for more money
9:33 That sign is really cool! Rare to see those two logos next to each other. The two companies were merged in January 1994, a little over three years after unification. Guessing that sign was put there some time in those intervening years, right before the consist was sold to CFR.
Yes, because when I am born in poverty, all I want is new and modern. Once I move my way into the world and get ahead, I start to appreciate these things ;)
@@CalinFRc'è ai ma? Sărăcie este în Timișoara nu la Iași, cel mai urat oraș al Ro este TM, complet insipid. Toată lummea urca spre Oradea Cluj Arad, toți evita Tm. Asta cu banatul a expirat de mult. Foamea in Moldova a fost tot din cauza celor din Sud care s-au refugiat acolo și mâncau tot ce prindeau și tăiau toți copacii pana n a mai rămas nimic. Vai voi trăiati in lux hahaha.
I've done Timisoara-Bucharest, Bucharest-Cluj and Bucharest-Chisinau. Very impressive considering the distances and funds available. The journey to Chisinau was the best - its actually a Soviet train that has remianed unchanged since 1991, and yet it was so comfortable and authentic. Rail travel in Romania is the way to go in my opinion
@@SuperalbsTravels The journey began with a homeless child that was living in the station showing me to my allocated seat. 6 people in a compartment, including a couple with a baby. Though no-one knew each other, all food (homemade) was shared. Everyone took a turn looking after the baby. Many old steam engines seen in sidings. A river that the train passed alongside had seemingly flooded recently, the water level revealed in the branches of trees that had collected plastic litter in the water. Nearing Bucharest an American lawyer who had been doing legal work on war crimes in the Croatian conflict approached, he having heard that there was another native english speaker on the train. He showed me to correct platform on the underground system, which seemed more modern than most public transit stations that I'd encountered elsewhere across Europe. The locals were kind, generous and spoke surprisingly good english.
@@blinkybagger8342aah, too bad you didn’t speak Romanian… ah…I can imagine the stories. Folks usually strike up friendships on these long journeys and exchange details…
@@LetharGPeople made some effort to converse with me through my time in Romania. As I have found elsewhere, many locals are happy to have the opportunity outside of a classroom to put to use their English language skills (even homeless children that I encountered could explain themselves adequately). Decades later I have a couple of Romanian pals that I have now known for more than a decade and the are among the more intellectually curious, thoughtful and humble people that I have met. Romania was interesting because it is European culture, accessible but so different from others that I had encountered.
10:32 Many people don't know about this, but the lever that brings the window up and down is supposed to be dismantled like that. It's because, underneath the lower bed, there are chairs for day use. Very comfortable but nobody uses them as there is extra work for the staff and they don't want that. Also, that's why the mattress developed a "ditch" in the middle along its whole length. People sit on it during the daytime (because the chairs are underneath and never used) and deform it.
I remember those sleeper carriages from going on holiday in Austria in the mid-1970s; we used to take them from Hamburg to Salzburg or Vienna or Villach and Yes, I remember them as very comfortable.
This sleeping car will be removed entirely from this route starting March 31st 2024. Still available on other routes though like Bucharest - Vatra Dornei and Bucharest - Satu Mare among others
@@CalinFRyes they want to cut out train travel so bus companies can earn more. Isolate Romania's regions even more. Fast trains are the way forward, and countries are investing heavily into rail networks. So should Romania too.
I remember this type of train design from the 80s, when they were running in Germany. They were already old then. The new Siemens train you showed is used only for regional services in Germany.
Did this journey this summer, but in seating car with weird semi-compartments (facing seats but in 3+2 layout). I'd have been so grateful for a sleeping car berth, it was.. well, interesting trying to sleep in the middle seat on a fully booked train :D
Been following you for a while. You have a lovely style of storytelling. PS. Sadly, some UK train operators can only dream of just 13 mins delay over 500 miles.
Amazing train ride with old sleep car in Romania. The good part is: you can make videos on window. Good job! Thumbs Up All the best from Romania Andrew
When it would be so easy to be completely negative about an experience on such an aged train, thank you for being fair and making this an exciting journey. Safe travels
Regarding the price, in order to actually understand it, you have to multiply by 2.5 time in order to see how us Romanians perceive it (purchasing power). Great review overall!
We have two same regional trains in Hungary from Győr to Pécs called Helikon Interregion and from Szombathely to Pécs called Pannonia Interregion. I am looking forward to watch what is it like in Romania. 😊
same carriages are still used in finland, they have been refurbished, but almost identical! They was supposed to be taken out of use in 2016, but they are still used during busy seasons!
When I was younger I took this train on standard class and stayed up most of the night. The scenery around Vatra Dornei is breathtaking, too bad you missed it.
Five hours in a 'regional train' isn't unusual for Amtrak (US). We did this a couple of months ago for Amtrak California run down the coast to San Diego from north of Los Angeles. So try out their regional train....it might be fun. Meanwhile, we've been on one of those overnight trains on the Budapest / Bucharest run. The car we were in was the same type but rather better condition. The fun bit here is crossing the national border, this happens around midnight -- you get woken up twice, once by the Hungarians, then by the Romanians.
Do they still do that? I did that journey in 2004, and the border crossing was the most film noir experience I’ve ever had; aggressive dogs and handlers stationed the length of the train, which was shunted out into an empty floodlit train yard; armed police and grim border guards; a full search of every compartment, including the roof cavities. Wouldn’t have missed it!
@@chriswalford4161 Our journey was in 2016. There was still residual activity but no dogs, searches or what-have-you. The two Hungarian border guards looked the business -- HiViz vests, all the usual police stuff from the utility belt, portable computer for the passport information. The Romanians had a little old guy with a small notebook and ballpoint pen. (BTW -- The train started out with an electric locomotive, when it split it got a diesel and then for the last leg from Brasov it was back to electric.)
When I was a kid we still had similar sleepers to this in Bulgaria with the wood paneling and cosy incandescent lighting. It was definitely way cosier than the current monotonous grey sleepers and I look back fondly at my rare trips on them
I love this generation of carriages. Glory times of Deutsche Bahn. Crossed the country multiple times in those as a child. On the legendary Würmlipass.
Thanks for the video, it's always great to follow your rail adventures. As always, Romanian trains are a strange mix of wonderful and quite bad. I took this train from Timișoara to Iaşi last month (but via Arad), in a 6 people sleeper car. It was one of my best train experiences ever ! Not because it was very comfy, even if it was not bad, but thanks to the people I met on the way, and the AMAZING scenery around Vatra Dornei. In contrast, I had a 7 hours long "night" trip back in 2018 in one of those Desiro, from Sibiu to Timisoara (IR1811). It was by far the worst experience I ever had in a train. It was so terrible I could barely walk when i finally arrived in Timișoara Nord, and i'm not even talking about the single toilet that was broken. It was the first and last time I cheaped out on my night train ticket.
Yep, that's a very nice place to spend a day. Sad there's no inflight (yeah, I know) food offering, but I wouldn't expect it, tbh, on a four coach consist.
Oh, memories. Back in 2016 I took this night train from Cluj-Napoca to Iaşi. The sleeper carriage was different, I guess from east german railways, but it looked "more luxurious", but still very old fashion. Overall this was the best sleeping in train I've ever had.
You can try these 1930s railcars on the lines Timisoara-Stamora Moravita (all trains), Timisoara-Buzias-Lugoj, Podu Olt-Piatra Olt-Caracal-Corabia, Craiova-Pitesti-Curtea de Arges (only some local services/mixed with Desiros and loco-hauled trains).
As a Romanian, I have traveled a few times on Romanian sleep wagons but I did not know about the small bracket that allows to raise the top portion of the bed. A very informative video by all means!
Seriously, in what sense? Just because of nostalgic vibes? Have you tried the Finnish double decker sleeping-cars? Or a new generation Nightjet sleeper?
@@eedragonr In low season a ticket in an own compartment in a very modern sleeping car Helsinki-Rovaniemi (12 hours) can be had for clearly under 100€. (Just look for videos here on RU-vid that show Finnish night trains). The problem with a generalisation is that a single counter-example can disprove it.
Small correction: the second carriage isn't a couchette car, it's a Halberstadt type 22-96 car with seats, divided into 3 compartments at each end with a 5 seat configuration and a semi-compartimented seats in the middle
As a tourists some years ago I traveled to Temesvár (or as in video: Timisora) by train. It became one of my most memorable journeys ever. In fact I was happy when I finally came back safe because of the many Gypsies and all kind of suspicious people traveling on the train. It looks like those who are not poor or who are a bit more educated do not travel by Romanian trains. I didn't know this. The rest room should be avoided if possible. I almost threw up. The train was from old times in my case too, with similar layout than in the video above. The comfort was not great, but for me it was enough on this local/passenger train for a 2X2 hours travel (back and forth). My wife traveled recently to Kolozsvár (or in Romanian: to Clui Napoca) with an express train, and she says that it was much more cultured than the regional Romanian train I traveled by, and the passengers were also better looking people. The price was as low as the video above informs. What a pity that Romania does not place more emphasis on regional train travel, because it's more environmentally friendly than traveling by car, or by minibuses. They should begin with the fight against the Romanian corruption, because almost nobody bought ticket on the Romanian train I traveled by - except me, who is Hungarian. The Romanian passengers only gave a tip to the conductor and they were allowed to travel for free. I'm not surprised that regional trains in Romania are so undeveloped.
@@SuperalbsTravels I mean the actual skiing was the most exciting part but yes, as far as I remember the beds were comfortable enough, and in the beginning, before cutting costs, the breakfast was really good. And as a 9-13 year-old, a night train is magical regardless
Excellent review; and though I, as you, would prefer more modern coaches, this journey and carriages was delightful. Thank you. Alberto from North Central Florida, USA
I must note that the old trains were much better thought out in terms of creating a comfortable and cozy environment. Of course, they are inferior to new trains in terms of noise and vibration insulation. But for me this has never been a problem. On the contrary. As a child, I adored trains because I slept listening to the sound of the wheels. Now almost everywhere there are seamless rails. And sometimes I really miss these measured knocks on a trip.
Railway is in improvement. București Constanța 225 km has top speed 160 kmh. Soon they will finish Brașov Arad 450 km also with 160 kmh top speed. Next is Arad Timișoara Caransebeș 155 km.
So,CFR with a sixty years old carriage, a journey of 16 hours. And just 13 minutes late. Not bad at all! Try Deutsche Bahn. New Material (ICE), a planned journey of let's say 5 hours. And often at least 30 minutes late. I think DB can learn something from the Romanians. Or at least we as customers. Don't judge the book just by its cover.
Visit our country and ride a Circular train in my country ( Myanmar ). The train ticket is the cheapest in the world ( I think ) only 0.1 cent. Warning: The country is in civil war, but the circular train area is kind of safe, no war there yet ( maybe in the future ) ( I hope there is no war there ). Love your videos. ❤
You seem to have overlooked one feature of many sleeping cars of that era, assuming that carriage still has it: a self-emptying chamber-pot in a cupboard under the washbasin that empties onto the track when you put it away after using it. I believe that many coaches that originally had that facility had it removed on refurbishment because it was deemed unhygienic, though.
Until recently, it was unusual to have holding tanks at all in most countries, hence the typical warning labels to avoid using toilets during station stops.
I’ve only travelled by train in Romania once, the short hop between Braila and Galati. For some reason it takes an hour or more o cover around 30km. It consisted of a massive electric locomotive hauling a single, duplex carriage. Having said that it was on time, clean, comfortable, the track quality seemed fine and it was very inexpensive - less than the equivalent of one Euro. Both stations are classic, Communist brutalist style with very limited facilities beyond each having a steam locomotive on a plinth outside. Both cities have trams but in neither case do they serve the railway station. I’ve still got the ticket as a souvenir. It’s actually a little card folder but does have the railway logo. I guess this service is now worked by multiple units.
Amenity packs always amuse me. Unless total emergency, why wouldn't you pack your own toothbrush/paste? Having a small toiletries bag in my backpack would be essential.
The former Yugoslavian Railways had quite a lot of those 3 bed sleeping cabin carriages and after the break up of Yugoslavia they ended up in the hands of the various successor states although I never saw any Bosnian or Macedonian ones on my travels.
You consider the price for this trip to be affordable, and it is for someone outside Romania, but when you consider that the minimum wage in 2024 is 420 Eur or 453$, paying 66 Eur for this trip is very expensive for an average Romanian, this is why most people will take this 16h travel in standard seated carriages, which are more cheaper. Your trip was pretty much perfect by Romanian standards, but this is not always the case, unfortunately. Thank you for the great video.🚂
Thank you for further context and information. If your able to see and respond, please give further information on the typical issues that can be encountered during this trip. I was impressed at the lack of nearly any troubles for the OPs video.
Back in the late '00s, when I was commuting for my university studies, I've accidently got on this train in Simeria at around 1-2am in the night, when I got off my train to Cluj-Napoca to buy me a sandwich from the non-stop Simeria station shops which were on the first platform. The "Hunger'' (how this train is called) was parked right next to mine (the Craiova - Cluj-Napoca night train) on the 3rd or the 4th line, and when getting back from the station shop, with both trains having nearly identical blue wagons, I have mistakenly got on this train instead of mine. The train departed not long afterwards, and looking to get back to my compartment I wasn't finding it nowhere in the train, so I became stressed and confused. But when the ticket controller and some passengers told me that I was on the Timisoara - Iasi train and that it stops in Cluj-napoca too, I got relieved. It arrived at Cluj-Napoca 35 minutes sooner than my Craiova - Cluj-Napoca train that I have missed earlier at Simeria, and luckly I met on the platform the nice ladies that were in my compartment on the first train who told me they gave my luggage to the controller. So I went to look for him and caught him up across the street, on his way to the station's office. He was carring my luggage in his hand. I took my luggage, thanked him for taking it and took the bus to my student dorm where I peacefully slept until noon, pleased that I eventually arrived in Cluj-Napoca, with all my belongings, despite the stupid mistake I've done that night.
Burdujeni is the original name for what is now known as Suceava station. It used to be a border crossing station between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and pre-WW1 Romania. The station on the Austro-Hungarian side of the border was called Suceava, thus the Romanian border station had to be called differently. The old Suceava station still exists today and it is known as Suceava-Nord.
Yes to the Desiro Regional. But only in Winter. Because the Desiro Motors driving easily hot on high temperatures. If the german DB got problems with them, the romanian friends will definetly will have them
VIA Rail in Canada continues to operate used coaches from Amtrak that were built before Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom! Thankfully funding is now available for their replacements.
You should try a regional train with the blue double-decker carriages, here you can experience the real Romania, where people smoke and drink on the train, carry piglets in bags, just to mind your pocket and your valuables, especially if you take the train from Bucuresti Obor. You will pay some 3 euros/100 km. Sometimes you can find those double-decker on Interregional trains at increased tarrif, like the night summer train Cucuveaua (little owl) Sibiu-Mangalia. And if you will come back to Romania, you should definetly eat the traditional mici (cevapci) with mustard, bread and a draft beer at a terrace inside a local market (piata). That's true Romania, not some fancy restaurant with "traditional" recipes. Expect to pay some 4 euros.
