Modern Trains in Romania
If you haven’t been on a Romanian train lately, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
CFR has been working respectably hard at replacing a good swath of those old, slow trains you’ve ridden in the past with sleek modern speedsters than rival most of Europe.
At long last, the ancient practice of handwriting train tickets on triplicate sheets or those cute little cardboard squares has finally, finally, finally given way to the greater efficiency of digital print-on-demand systems that speed up the ticket lines.
And, much to your shock, you’ll find there’s no smoking allowed on board.
Travel tip: This modern intercity train will speed you, in style, between Braşov and Bucureşti in only 2 hours. It’s clean, comfortable, and not overcrowded. At a great bargain price of approximately US$13 one way, you can’t beat that with a stick!
When the conductor comes by, they aren’t looking for your passport (unless you’re on an international train just crossing the border), so stay hip and keep it to yourself. They’re asking you for the bilete, which is your ticket. Most likely you’ll only be asked once, although it’s possible for them to ask several times because they don’t remember if they’ve checked you already. Don’t sweat it.
Many of the intercity day trains have some kind of snack service, where a CFR attendant travels up and down car corridors offering coffee, beer, and other consumables for sale. Night trains going longer distances have quite acceptable sleeping cars which are good enough for some shuteye.
CFR is apparently unable to manage their own IT needs which is confusing because you cannot find scheduling information on their own website. Instead, you’ll have to check for time schedules at a different website belonging to their outsourcing partner InfoFer. After you search for trains that meet your timing needs, look for the “IC” designation for intercity trains.
Unfortunately, you cannot buy tickets online just yet. Put your pencil to use and write down the train number, departure time, and arrival time which will be crucial to making sure the unfriendly CFR representative staring at you menacingly through the ticket sales booth glass window is more likely to issue you the correct tickets.
There doesn’t seem to be a discount for round trip tickets, which are open-ended and require you to check into the sales booth anyway, so I never buy one. However, if you’re chronically nervous about your wallet or purse being stolen during your trip, then paying in advance is the most safe option. (Just don’t keep the ticket in your wallet or purse.)
My recommendation is to take the intercity trains whenever possible. It’s the best bang for your buck.
For those skimping by on a tight budget, you have two alternatives.
You can snag a ride on a shuttle van (called maxi-taxis or ocazie) for around US$10. The journey length varies depending on the stops en route, but it takes around 3 hours or so. It is not a good choice for those prone to car sickness or easily scared by aggressive drivers.
Or you can travel old school by getting a ticket on the “personal” trains (look for the P designation on the schedule), most of whom still retain remnants of the charm of communist-era travel. Here you’ll brush up against a slice of Romanian society — the good, the bad, and the ugly. No need to be overly paranoid, but keep a close eye on your bags.
Your trip will be significantly louder, much more crowded, a bit dirtier, slightly more confusing, and noticeably colder or hotter (depending on the season). But, four or more hours later, you’ll have arrived for only US$4.
January 4th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
“R” trains are safe to take too. They usually come in two variaties: classic cars (the interior is close to that of the IC) and săgeata albastră (they’re nice and clean, but the seats suck).
January 4th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Very worthwhile info giving more options for traveling around Romania. I spent some quality time navagating the CFR website as well. Thanks!
January 4th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
CFR split some time ago into different parts: CFR Management, CFR Marfa, CFR Calatori and so on. Infofer stands for Informatica Feroviara and is the department for IT (CFR has some wide optic cable coverage around the country). So it’s not really outsourcing.
January 4th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Hi. Cool thread:) Anyway, I have no coment on this one. I dont know how to post comments or questions to a blog. for example that of raluca cozma, the blog where I discovered this one – romerican. As I don’t have a habit in checking blogs regularly, if there is anyone so kind to email me any hint, please use address: xxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com.
Thanks.
[Email removed -R!]
January 4th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Is that lettuce on the luggage rack?
January 5th, 2007 at 1:27 am
CO – I agree; the Rapid trains are pretty much fine. And I share your exact feelings about those spiffy white “bullet” (shape, not speed) trains. They look svelte, but are best for short trips due to the very hard plastic seats.
Shadow – The IC trains are a bit more Western-friendly, but on the other hand there’s something to be said for traveling old school over a long distance at least once… just for a taste. ;)
Andu – Hey, thanks for the clarification. I wasn’t deeply aware of the historical relationship there and did assume it was outsourced because they mention separate companies and all. But now I understand what you’re describing.
But why didn’t they just *include* the data onto the main CFR site? Y’know, “Powered by Google” type thing. Would be a lot easier for those who don’t understand where to find the info (I’m one of those clods who couldn’t find it via the CFR website, but had to be told by a local where to go).
Emil – Welcome to the show!
If you have a blog or three you enjoy, I recommend you take advantage of RSS feeds. These RSS feeds are available from most blogs and work kinda like subscriptions. Basically, you need an RSS feed reader (some people use their email software to do it, others like me use a browser, and yet others use a dedicated feed reader). You tell it what blogs/sites you want to keep track of, then the software will check the RSS feeds to find out if there’s updates and let you know about it. Pretty cool; you might want to look into it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Ionuka – I nearly spilled my beer with laughter there. I admit it does look fairly ambiguous. I’m pretty sure it was a plastic bag from some store, but it wasn’t mine so I tried not to stare at it. But some cabbage or lettuce would have been a hoot!
January 5th, 2007 at 2:55 am
If you go to cfr.ro there’s a big link in the middle, “Mersul Trenurilor de Calatori”. :)
If you’re into some bit of trivia and brief history of romanian brands, including CFR, check this book out: http://marcidesucces.sfin.ro/index.php
January 5th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
The problem with that Blue Arrow train is that it’s designed for people who are shorter than 1m 60cm. Why does it need to be so cramped? Tell me now!
Personals are more comfortable (though slower and dirtier it must be said). I am also a big fan of the mock-discrete bribe to the ticket collector.
January 5th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Andu – Oh, sure, buddy… make it look easy. =P Thanks for the link; I took a quick look and will be diving into that resource later today.
Andy – Surely you wouldn’t discriminate against all the children who ride trains and have been forced to suffer for decades on past trains whose seats were selfishly designed by adult engineers based on their own height rather than the heights of our most vulnerable members of society: the children!
CO – So, the commie buggers are forcing posture on us, now? And on the basis of proletariat equality? Well, I dare say, I rather be one of those who is more equal than others.
January 5th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
The seats are designed to match the anatomic curves of the spine. But if you’re not the right height, or if you want to stay in a more relaxed position the whole experience can become painful.
January 5th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I don’t know about the commie buggers. As far as I know those trains are made by Siemens. The nazi buggers. ;)
January 6th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
“There doesn’t seem to be a discount for round trip tickets” – I think you’re in the wrong here. The discount is 10%. But since you’re a rich American, you probably didn’t notice. :P
January 6th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Aha! We have our first claim about discounts, finally. I’d been wondering who might correct me on that point, although I clung firmly to my belief there was no such discount.
Now, I’ll have to chance it – pretend to be last of the famous international cheapskates – and see if I walk away with a discount. If only I can keep the gold dubloons from spilling all over the ground when I reach for the thick wads of 100 RON bills overflowing my many pockets…
January 6th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I think you have to buy the tickets from a travel agency in order to get the discount. There’s one in the Braşov railway station (to the left of the stairway).
January 6th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
But you forgot something very important! The business class seats. Y’know, with a wireless internet connection and all. Those that you pay a lot :D for a service that others (pizza hut, mcd in the future) offer for free…I guess it is harder to provide on a moving train :D
January 6th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Hey, I ran into a kickass German-made intercity train from Deva to Bucharest in 2004. Looked much like your pics. It was beautiful and very comfy even in second class. Only I think it was at least 2:15 for Brasov to Bucharest, maybe more. So much depends on the station/platform managers… ;)
Frankly, I miss getting three cardboard stubs per ride (never did figure out what the third one was for beyond train number and vagon/loc…). They were cute. ‘Twas even funnier to watch the conductors struggle to punch them. :-D
Anyway, I refused to ride anything slower than an accelerat, except for the Personale as the only things to run between Caransebes and the in-laws in Otelu Rosu. Ugh.
But…there is a value to riding second class, even on older, more uncomfortable trains — hanging out with students and other interesting, ordinary people who can’t afford the IC’s and Rapids but still have a lot to say and share, IMO. Granted, you get more buffoons / drunks / annoying people, too, but hey — I can find those in most U.S. airplanes in coach…
Happy New Year! Hope Brasov is treating you well (including functioning canalizare)! :-)
January 6th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Oops, I should rephrase that second to last paragraph…hanging out with people who can’t afford *first class* on ICs and Rapids…etc.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
CO – Defensively, I’d hope you were right because I don’t recall discounts being offered for buying round trip train tickets. But, you know, now I’ll simply have to clear up the entire issue for myself. I suspect CFR is going to get a phone call…
Alina – Whoa ho ho! Wifi on-board the RO trains!? Ya got me there; I had absolutely no idea whatsoever. I’ll put that on my list of things to ask CFR about because I’m curious how they could possibly provide such coverage.
Sure, they could possibly use an EDGE connection, but that would be slow if shared via WiFi to passengers. On the other hand, I’ve recently dabbled with the other GPRS data services in Romania and found they are already slow enough for just one person which would make sharing all but impossible. Let us see, shall we?
Frank – Welcome back! Nice to see you again. The photo in this post is also from second class (for the unfamiliar, that means the “cheap seats” …which ain’t half bad as you can see).
I agree it’s interesting to take the populara ride now and then, to get that authentic flavor of baseline travel. Whether you do it out of budgetary need or free choice, the experience is interesting (that experience also makes me scramble for the IC). I agree you can have some interesting conversation with all sorts of people, should you choose.
On the other hand, I was able to meet a fabulous Italian couple on the IC train. First time in Romania, they were on their way to Sinaia for a day trip. We chatted about Transylvania “must see” sites (and they agreed Bran was underwhelming).
One of them was a tour guide in Italy. After I removed my foot from my mouth from comments about “common tourism,” I was very fortunate that they gave me an invaluable treasure trove of amazingly detailed, Romerican-specific insights, tips, and ideas on precisely where I could find some excellent adventure materials throughout several spots of southern Italy, which I intend to scour as soon as feasible.
No annoying drunk buffoons, however. Yes, those were left behind on the P trains. I suppose you might find one on coach, but -particularly since the recent lockdowns- it’d be unfair to compare US common airline seats to the gritty, earthiness of the least expensive Romanian trains. Because the train wins hands down! =oD
January 8th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
well now for the experience, perhaps it’s best to “train it” instead of renting a car for the authentic romanian visit ;-D
January 11th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
[...] While riding the train to Bucureşti, a very nice Italian couple asked if I knew what was the story behind the people with lambs around town. Having not seen such a thing, I couldn’t really answer. They told me what they had seen three or four different times in the centru and up on Poiana. [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 6:26 am
Super. Use those new trains to carry around lettuce. :) Anyway, do you have a lot of those? I guess not, the InterRail site shows old, crappy trains, crappier than the old ones we HAD in Bulgaria. :) http://www.interrailnet.com//2_railway_romania.html
That’s the site for Romania.
http://www.interrailnet.com//2_railway_bulgaria.html
Site for Bulgaria.
I’m happy we got new and quality trains from Siemens. The old ones, at least the locomotives, were from Romania. They were loud and dirty. Hehe.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:56 am
I have NO IDEA what kind of nice trains are you guys talking about, what I did travel on, was filty NO toilette paper, urin and crap all around. The benches where NOT STABIL either, full with gipsies or romanians I couldn’t tell, they are all very dark. I did almost broke one litle kids arm when I caught it in my pocket. Demn those parents who let their kids do this. I NEVER go back to tour that country :O(