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Kismet Dao HostelsBrasov - ROMANIA

Trains

RAILWAYS IN ROMANIA (S.N. CFR Călători)

The national railways company in Romania is CFR (Căile Ferate Române), fully referred to as SNCFR Călători ("Societatea Națională Căile Ferate Române Călători", meaning "Romanian Railways National Company - Passengers Division"). Their net of rails is quite well spread and most towns of interest are covered by trains. However in the mountainous area and especially in extreme N Romania the rails are few and usually the trains have many speed restrictions to obey to. Romania is served by a very diverse bunch of wagons and engines, from aging diesel engines all the way to close-to-modern air-conditioned ICE wagons. For any updated information, one can always check the CFR timetable and other bits and pieces at www.cfr.ro, which is quite helpful and it also has an English version. Exact rates for the rides are also provided.

THE TRAINS

Find here the main types of trains in Romania:

  • PERSONAL (P) stands for a local train, which stops basically in all (or most) stations and halts there are. The trains usually have open, Romanian wagons, without compartments, and the bathrooms are bad. Sometimes there are double-decker wagons, in which situation one should avoid the upper floor in summer, as it gets pretty hot up there. Expect the wagons to be poorly maintained and take a warm jacket if you travel in wintertime. This is the cheapest way of travelling by train in Romania, yet it also is the less comfortable. It is recommended though, together with the Accelerat train, for those interested in some sociological insight, as most regular people, especially in the countryside, as well as most workers use such trains because of the cheap rate. A 100 km. ride in a 2nd class wagon ("vagon de clasa a doua") costs the equivalent of USD 1,5. No seat reservation is required, just head for the first seat available you notice. The wagons are usually blue, marked in white with the CFR logo. Rarely there are some green wagons, on routes such as Buzău - Nehoiașu or Vatra Dornei - Dornișoara.
  • PERSONAL MOTOR (PM or rarely marked with AM) stands for a local train (see above), which is made of only one (rarely two) automotive wagon, which is used more and more rarely on routes such as Arad - Vașcău or Brașov - Zărnești. The wagons were built somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century and are a very picturesque way of "enjoying" a trip. No seat reservation is required and the price of the ride is the same like a regular Personal one.
  • ACCELERAT (A) stands for a train, which is also quite badly maintained. The wagons have 11 compartments of 8 seats each (2nd class seats wagons) or 9 compartments of 6 seats each (1st class seats wagons). This kind of trains usually stops only in bigger towns and cities, running faster than the Personal. We are dealing here with aging Romanian wagons, which are restricted to the minimum of comfort and the cheapest materials the people working in ASTRA Arad Plant could find. The bathrooms are just as bad as in regular local trains. This is the way regular people travel at long distance, as this is the cheapest of the fast trains in Romania. A 100 km. ride in a 2nd class seats wagon costs about USD 3,0. A seat reservation is required for this type of train (USD 0,3), except for very few routes (usually alongside Prahova Valley on the way back from long runs, simply because the train is generally packed and no seats are available). The wagons are most times blue marked in white with the CFR logo. Some trains have a dining car and some night trains have sleeping wagons.
  • RAPID(R) stands for a train, which is subject to your luck. Why? Simple: you could have the bad luck of having the same conditions, wagons and all like in an Accelerat train (see above), or you could end up in a red refurbished ASTRA wagon. The wagons have 9-11 compartments (just like the Accelerat trains). Otherwise this kind of train is only lightly faster than the Accelerat one, but it is usually less crowded, due to the higher price of the ride. The bathrooms vary widely from the same old bad ones, to neat ecological ones on the German wagons some trains have (especially some international trains). A seat reservation is required for this type of train (USD 0,3). A 100 km. ride in a 2nd class seats wagon costs around USD 5,0. Some trains have a dining car and most night trains have sleeping wagons.
  • INTER CITY (IC) stands for a close-to-modern train with air-conditioned wagons. The train has most times red, open Western wagons and all trains have a dining car, running only at daytime. The routes, which are served by such trains, are Bucharest - Timișoara, Bucharest - Cluj Napoca, Bucharest - Constanța and Bucharest - Iași. The bathrooms are usually proper and the service - better than on other trains, yet the rates are just as high: USD 6 for a 100 km. ride in a 2nd class seats wagons. Most IC trains only run on weekdays. A seat reservation is compulsory on these trains (USD 0,3).
  • INTER CITY EXPRESS trains have been introduced with this fluffy name only for Marketing purposes, as they only run from Bucharest to Constanța, to the coast. They are just as nice as the regular IC and the conditions are the same.
  • EURO CITY and EURO NIGHT trains have a catch. There is only one EC and one EN running, to and from Budapest to Bucharest. They share the same rates with the regular Rapid trains on domestic routes though and the fact that less people know that results in the situation where rarely they are fully booked. They need a seat reservation both (USD 0,3) and the rate is similar to the one on a Rapid train: USD 5 for a 2nd class seats wagon. The EN has regular German red wagons (only 8 seats 2nd class wagons and sleepers), while the EC has white/blue open wagons belonging to the Hungarian Railways (MÁV).

SLEEPING ON THE TRAIN

This is a good means of avoiding to pay for the accommodation, especially on routes such as Bucharest - Suceava (for the monasteries in N Moldavia) or Bucharest - Timișoara. Though the cheapest way of doing that is by taking an overnight Accelerat in a 2nd class seats wagon, it is not much more expensive to go by a sleeping wagon - sometimes on the very same train. The sleeping wagon supplement varies between the equivalent of USD 5,0 (6 beds / berth couchette wagon) and of USD 10,0 (3 beds / berth sleeping wagon), going a bit up for the 1st class, sleeping wagon. Basically one has three options on domestic routes: a couchette wagon ("vagon-cușetă"), a 2nd class sleeping wagon ("vagon de dormit clasa a doua") and a 1st class sleeping wagon ("vagon de dormit clasa întâi"). The 2nd class sleeping wagon has 3 beds in berth, while the 1st class version has 2 beds in a berth; on some selected international routes there are single compartments as well. In addition to this, on the routes Bucharest - Chișinău (Republic of Moldova) and Bucharest - Kiev (Ukraine) / Moscow (Russia) / Lvov (Ukraine) / Minsk (Belarus) / Harkov (Ukraine) there are only 2nd class Russian standard sleeping wagons (4 beds / berth). All sleeping wagons running in and through Romania have wagon attendants, yet that mans nothing, watch your stuff and lock the door (most compartment doors on the sleepers can be locked from the inside or at least chained).

BUYING YOUR TICKET:

There occur many confusions as referring to the Romanian train tickets simply because the system is a bit complicated and nobody explains it clearly. A basic train ticket on a certain A - B route is made up of the following different parts:

  • the base ticket (the Personal rate)
  • the selected train supplement (the Accelerat or Rapid or IC / EC / EN / ICE train supplement)
  • the seat reservation (compulsory for all trains except for the Personal)

Now, there are two ticket systems: in either Bucharest and Ploiești (coming soon in other main stations as well), they have introduced a computer system for the ticket offices and you have only one cardboard sheet with all the data you need (train number, price, departure / arrival hour a.o.). In most other stations though they still have the old system, which means that for a Personal train you get a small easy-to-lose ticket, for the other trains you get at least 2 small such tickets, one of which is the P train ticket and the other being the supplement and the seat reservation. Make sure not to lose any of them. The ticket selling system not being computerized, the system is very slow and painful. Every station on a certain route receives the seats allocated for it by phone 1 hour before the train arrives in that specific station. If the allocated seats are all sold out, you will be given only the ticket, without a seat, which means that you will probably have to stand in the train hall. If the clerk in the station is kind enough though, he/she has the possibility of calling for some "spare" seats to other stations, but most times they will not go out of their way to do so for you.

We wrote about this complicated issue only to explain the reason for which train tickets are sold in the station office only 1 hour before the train departs and not longer before. If you want to be sure you have a ticket booked, you have to refer to a CFR Agency ("Agenție de Voiaj CFR") at least 24 hours before the train departs (sometimes the same day, but not always). Their commission is very small, so there is no need to worry about that. Find CFR agencies in most towns and cities. In Bucharest alone it is possible to book train tickets by phone and then to collect them from a special office in Bucharest North Station.

BUCHAREST NORTH STATION

Despite its bad reputation, the station is safe for those, which are well awake and keep an eye on their stuff, avoiding to spend more time than needed there. There is an ATM in the main hall to the right lane and next to it there is one of the Bucharest exchange offices with the worst rates. In any situation, that exchange office even is far better than changing your money with God knows what "friendly" person you "happen to meet" in Bucharest North Station. At the end of line #2 there is a tourist information office, which will help you with any query you might have, including taxis, tips and all. Never take any of the taxi drivers which hang around in the station and only take taxis which bear a banner for one of the trustworthy companies in Bucharest, such as: Perozzi, Valentino, Cobălcescu, Meridian, Mondial, XXL, Nova, Leone, Rodelle a.o. A ride from the station to the city centre should NOT go over, say, the equivalent of USD 1,5. There also is a metro entrance within the station and the tube can take you to the city centre as well (take one stop towards Dristor 2, get off in Victoria 2 and change the lines for the one towards IMGB, then get off in the second stop, in University Sq. and you're in the centre).

TRAIN SCHEDULES:

Bucharest and other parts of Romania can be reached by regular trains from Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Venice, Belgrade, Sofia, Thessalonica, Istanbul, Sofia, Harkov, Moscow, Lvov, Minsk. For further information, refer to the official website of the
CFR: Romanian rail system