Thread by @jonworth

Welcome to #CrossBorderRail Day 37 - Svilengrad to Bucuresti twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

#CrossBorderRail Train 126
R 10140 04:35 Svilengrad - Dimitrovgrad 05:32
Ave speed: 67 km/h
Operator: BDZ

Train type: Old Škoda locomotive, 3 carriages
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️ (but probably ok if you ask - enough space)
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

Svilengrad-Dimitrovgrad

DB - D: 04:35
Screen at station - D: 04:35
Sign at station - D: 04:35

Interrail app - D: 04:50

Hmmm

And it did go at 04:35…

Thank you EU for funding the line upgrades here! And BDZ at least runs a reasonable service, albeit few international trains… 131km/h is probably the fastest I’ve ever gone on a train in Bulgaria

Early morning #fensterauf

And an early morning #rearwindow approaching Dimitrovgrad

I’m a bit confused. I thought the through carriages (Kurswagen) from Istanbul to Bucuresti Nord would be connected to the 06:00 Dimitrovgrad to Gorna Oryahovitsa train. That’s that train… and no carriages from Istanbul.

Aaaand we have an hour of delay. At least. Train from Istanbul is late, and as carriages from that connect to our train, we have to wait.

Using the delay here in Dimitrovgrad, and the solid 5G, to check some of the footage from yesterday

Here’s the drone video of the Ormenio 🇬🇷 - Alexandroupouli 🇬🇷 train departing from Ormenio

And here is the Ottoman era bridge in Svilengrad 🇧🇬

So a 06:00 departure from Dimitrovgrad has now become… 08:28

This is my train, now still forlornly waiting

Coupling the sleeping car from Istanbul to the two BDZ carriages that run from Dimitrovgrad to Gorna Oryahovitsa (or Ruse if we’re lucky)

#CrossBorderRail Train
464 06:00 Dimitrovgrad - Gorna Orjahovica 10:36 (but started 2 hrs 25 min late!)
Ave speed: 43 km/h
Operator: BDZ

Train type: Škoda locomotive & 3 carriages (only 1 shown)
⚡️
🚲: ⛔️ (but prob ok if you ask)
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

#CrossBorderRail Train 128
460 11:30 Gorna Orjahovica - Bucuresti Nord 17:05
Ave speed: approx 50 km/h
Operator: BDZ

Train type: Škoda locomotive now, diesel from Ruse later, and 5 carriages
⚡️&⛽️
🚲: ⛔️ (probably possible if you ask)
🦽: ⛔️
📶: ⛔️
🍽: ⛔️

Need extra air at 65km/h? #TuerenAuf Doors Open! Approaching Ruse 🇧🇬

And I assume loading gauge is generous enough to mean an open door won’t collide with anything other than bushes?

Ruse

Leaving Bulgaria…

The border here isn’t efficient. The Bulgarian border police collect up all the passports and potter off to an office to check them. And then we’ll trundle across the bridge to Romania and go through the same again there. Surely they could do the checks *together*?

Romanian side. Two border police slowly saunter to the train a couple of minutes after arrival. And collect the passports… and will potter off again to an office with them

Ah no. Passports collected. And then returned without a stamp (UK passport is supposed to be stamped). I don’t know what’s going on here.

The Giurgiu-Bucuresti Nord train overtakes us at Giurgiu Nord. It’s comprised of one hefty diesel and just 1 carriage!

So tonight’s #CrossBorderRail meet-up in Bucuresti 🇷🇴 is ON. Leaving Giurgiu 1 hour 40 mins late but I have enough buffer to still be at J’ai Bistrot, Calea Griviței 55, București 010704 from c. 19:00. Come along and say hello!

Aaand we still take the long and slow way round, via Videle. Because the bridge that’s damaged on the faster route (to the right on the map) still hasn’t been repaired. Isn’t this a TEN-T corridor @AdinaValean #CrossBorderRail

Speeding towards Bucharest

Craiova-Calafat and Bucuresti-Giurgiu are nothing short of scandalous, @AdinaValean

Hell even Bulgaria has electrified both its lines on its side of the bridges! #CrossBorderRail

Oh and now the CFR conductor is getting annoyed we don’t have seat reservations despite the Bulgarians telling us we didn’t need them with Interrail in Dimitrovgrad this morning. And despite a delay of 100 mins and 37°c temperatures… 🤷‍♂️

Ok. So it has to be done… which country has the worst railway in the EU? Think infra, speeds, reliability, service density, info provision, staff, comfort…

(And Bulgaria isn’t in - Romania is worse. Lithuania isn’t in - Latvia is worse)

This is an odd one… a @unsereOebb Taurus⚡️with a 40 year old diesel connected in front… to cross the non-electrified gap between Videle and Ruse with a freight train

And another pair of hefty diesel locomotives prepare to depart towards Ruse 🇧🇬 on the non electrified track section from Videle. Why has 🇷🇴 never electrified that missing 80km or so?