Welcome to #CrossBorderRail Day 38 - Timisoara to Poprad (hopefully) twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
This isn’t Timisoara
This track doesn’t look very good. What happened there?
Now in the seating carriage Timisoara onwards towards Hungary. It’s air conditioned, sort of. I’m the only passenger 😷. People are coughing.
At Lőkösháza on the Hungarian side of the border more carriages are added, so I can hopefully escape this one.
Sought refuge by the door. Sure the safety alarms me. But I have air!
Timișoara is Romania’s third largest city. But its rail infra is - even by Romanian standards - dire. Single track lines, low speeds. Although at least electrified…
I’m so done with this shit. There are now passengers smoking in the vestibules. The two old CFR geezers sat in the carriage here do nothing. They’re underpaid. The rail network underfunded. No one gives a damn.
The only train I took in Romania that was on time was the Nadlac-Arad branch line (that had a speed of 32km/h). On lines like Giurgiu-Videle-Bucharest, Simeria-Targu Jiu, and Bucuresti-Timisoara I’m not even sure trains can run to time even if nothing goes wrong on the day.
Ah it’s another #CrossBorderRail timetable fail 😩
IC 194 Budapest - Miskolc - Kosice arrives 2 mins *after* the fast train to Poprad departs…
And responses like this are infuriating. Sure, there are technical reasons for things. But if you can’t get the train to Kosice 5 mins earlier, can you get the one for Poprad to leave 5 mins later? When a train crosses a border no one does any thinking to overcome this.
Szolnok
And COFFEEEEEEE!
Forgot this last night… arrived today!
#CrossBorderRail Train 130
IRD 78 22:02 Bucuresti N - Szolnok 11:26
Ave speed: 51 km/h
Operator: CFR & MÁV
Train type: CFR loco then MÁV loco. 6 carriages to Timisoara, then 3 to HU
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️ (possible only in 🇭🇺)
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️
The very retro sleeping car Bucuresti-Timisoara. No air con. Comfy bed though! #fensterauf
Szolnok station
Outside Szolnok station
Off go a bunch of postcards to @AdinaValean from last week - I had Hungarian stamps but had forgotten to post these!
Needing a train that’s easy to board has many forms
The microwave oven fits into the railbus. Just!
Szolnok station
Szolnok around the station
Looking back towards the station. The scale of the rail infra here is massive
Earlier in #CrossBorderRail I was impressed by MÁV’s IC+ bicycle carriage…
Today’s train has one of those, and a combined 1st class / snack point carriage. This is equally clever. Info points in compartments, electric sockets everywhere, even the toilet is well designed
The snack point isn’t a full dining car, but there is warm food if you want it. And decent coffee. Here’s the menu - in Hungarian
I also investigated the disabled access in the combined bike / wheelchair accessible carriage. The ramp is on board, so isn’t dependent on the station having one
The problem with IC+?
No level boarding. These are classic high floor 200km/h InterCity / EuroCity carriages
But they’re about the best EuroCity carriages I’ve seen. They’re almost as good as a Railjet
#CrossBorderRail Train 131
IC 656 “Tokaj” 13:38 Szolnok - Miskolc Tiszai 16:27
Ave speed: 91 km/h
Operator: MÁV
Train type: V43 locomotive & 5 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ✅ (and it’s good! eBike charging and pump)
🦽: ✅ (ramp on board)
📶: ✅ (good snack point)
🍽: ✅
Also I realise the tweet above was a bit unclear. 1st class in IC+ is 3 across compartments. The 2 across (shown) is the “1st plus” class that requires an extra supplement
It’s hammering down at Hajdúszoboszló 🇭🇺 and we’re 45 minutes late… My connection in Miskolc for Kosice 🇸🇰 is going to be long gone. But I should still get the final train of the day to Slovakia and on to Poprad Tatry…
A few pics from Bulgaria
Railway firms rivalling state incumbent BDZ use a range of different second hand locomotives - here are two ex-DSB EA class (1 Bulmarket, 1 DB Cargo Bulgaria), 1 ex-UK class 92 (DB Cargo Bulgaria), 1 ex-UK class 87 (operator unknown - poss. GFR BG?)
A few drone pictures from Svilengrad 🇧🇬
And some #FensterAuf pics from en route, inc. the guard signalling to the driver to start at a station… while leaning out!
Crossing the Danube into Romania, Giurgiu Nord (the border station), and a fellow passenger so keen to get her connecting train in Bucuresti Nord she had the door open long before we even got to the platform!
And I’ve re-planned Monday - the final regular day of #CrossBorderRail
Two rail replacement buses in Sachsen and Brandenburg is more than I can stomach. So I’m routing Liberec 🇨🇿 to Dresden instead of to Görlitz
Will write it all up later!
Approaching Miskolc 🇭🇺 more than an hour late… after having taken this train because I’d missed the earlier one as the Timisoara 🇷🇴 - Szolnok 🇭🇺 train was also late… So total delay is c. 3 hours
But the rain stopped. And on board info on MÁV IC+ carriages is very good
Classic motive power at Miskolc Tiszai - the V43 was built in 1968. And wherever I go in Hungary there are rail buses!
Tiszai is a nice old station
And more postcards have been sent on their way to @AdinaValean - from Bucuresti. Thanks @ChrisFrean @bucharestlife @PaliparanDotCom for both the good conversation and saving me a trip to a post office yesterday! ☺️
The #ConnectingEurope express lives! Or at least the MÁV baggage carriage from it does. At Miskolc-Tiszai.
#CrossBorderRail Train 132
IC 186 18:30 Miskolc-Tiszai - Kosice 19:59
Ave speed: 59 km/h
Operator: MÁV & ŽSSK
Train type: V43 locomotive & 3 ŽSSK carriages
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️ (no bike place, I checked - but there are 🎿 racks!
🦽: ⛔️ (no wheelchair place or toilet)
📶: ✅
🍽: ⛔️
#CrossBorderRail Train 132
Os 1764 20:32 Kosice - Poprad Tatry 21:52
Ave speed: 75 km/h
Operator: ŽSSK
Train type: ČSD EM 488.0
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️ (but can be put by the doors)
🦽: ⛔️ (I can see no way)
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️
Spišské Vlachy
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