I took Europe's WORST rail line, and this is what happened
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A Sentimental Journey Through Germany and the Czech Republic.
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No
Adam inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally
Begging...
MÁV: Megyek Állok Várok
(I walk, stand, wait)
Thanks for accepting my suggestion! I always wanted to know what you think about MAV/Start
Toilets on a train? That has had anything to do with germany? AND THERE ISN'T EXCREMENT EVERYWHERE?!?!?! PROPAGANDA!!!! (/s)
"Still has better public transit than Los Angeles" is the urbanist version of "Still a better love story than Twilight"
Los Angeles is actually working really hard on improving their public transit recently. Lots of new rail lines and extensions of older ones either already opened or coming soon.
@@Geotpf So visiting LA I don't have to hike for two hours through Skid Row to reach my connecting train?
@@GeotpfLots of new lines, but ridership keeps falling year on year. LA is a pretty good example that you have to do more than just build infrastructure to get people to use it. The main thing that LA needs to learn is that it needs to also deprioritize cars and make walking a better experience. You can't have both.
As a german I can confirm, that "Nicht Einsteigen!" is a very obscure limbo you can end up with no escape. Never travel there.
U can reach that place if u fell asleep but u will be awaken by an very angry train operator just to be told that u can't get off. You have to wait till the train turns around and drives in other direction. Meanwhile you are stuck in the void.
Sounds almost as bad as Bielefeld…
Nur noch zu überbieten von "Leerfahrt"
As I general rule I always avoid going to places with an exclamation point in their name.
@@fds7476 well, it's impossible to end up in Bielefeld, but you get to Nicht Einsteigen if you sleep past the end station... get shivers just thinking about it.
1:00 There are dark and horrible stories about the town of "Nicht Einsteigen", a dark place somewhere between "Endstation" and "Letzter Halt" where even Bielefeldians don't dare to tread.
Even Ödenwaldians would hesitate.
U forgot „Umleitung“ and „Ersatzverkehr“
Is it next to Ausfahrt?
@@pigeonman6434 I think it's closer to raststätte.
"Bahn endet hier" is the ninth circle of hell.
as an american train enthusiast: PLEASE make more of these videos. i'm so jealous. seriously.
Especially when he said the transit is better than LA that shit hurts
I'm sitting here in Middle America completely baffled at the idea of more than one train in each direction, which is all Amtrak has here. Northstars don't count, as those are the dumbest system in creation
@@ebnertra0004 Adam Something thought he made an exposé on Hungarian Railways when he really made an ad for public transport in Europe.
As a citizen of an EU country we can enter other EU country borders like no tomorrow, but having an universal interconnected train system with the same voltage usage everywhere is too much too ask?
So much for the 21st century am I right?
Well, at least your phone chargers are all USB-C now. Baby steps.
that doesn't really matter that much these days since most locomotives like siemens vectron are multisystem. I think the various safety systems with ETCS nowhere near where it should be are a bigger problem
Adam inspires me.. My parents said if i get 50K followers They'd buy me a professional camera for recording..begging u guys , literally
Begging...
EU's entire purpose is to transfer money from citizens to state and the elite, what exactly did you expect?
Dude, im in germany, we cant even figure out trains in our own country, and were germany ffs
I once fell asleep, traveled to "Nicht einsteigen", was woken up by rail workers, asking why I was here . I explained them my situation, they were pissed and called their mngmt. which seemingly said sth. along the lines of ... "just leave him there until we put the train back" ... so I chilled in an all empty train for like an hour or so and watched some rail workers do their work outside ... really weird Limbo indeed.
My guy fr traveled to the backrooms 💀
Could be worse, you could have ended up in Bielefield.
@@666Tomato666 true xD That city that doesn´t exist
I once took a Bus to "Nicht Einsteigen" in a similar fashion. Woke up right when we were turning into the destination and gave the driver a scare. Luckily she just escorted me out of the backrooms and I took the first freshly cleaned bus at 4:30 am.
Haha nice, how were your backrooms, also yellow or ... :D@@ThanksALott
European rail criticism be like: "Joining panels were misaligned, the interior decor was bland, the catering service was subpar and there was no soap in the bathroom"
American rail criticism be like: "We would like a rail service please."
As a Canadian, these concepts of practical and accessible railway connections are completely alien to me and it makes me weep
As an Austrian who took the sleeper+ from Winnipeg to Toronto, I have to say that you guys still have nice trains in Canada!
Shame it only goes once a week :/
Canada 🤝 north american car infrastructure hellscape 🤝 USA
I once took the train from Toronto to Montreal and it was fine (which are two massive cities, obviously, and has no bearing on the whole system). I was AMAZED how it could take as long as it was gonna take but we got there😂😂😂
@@akschmidt2085 There has been talk among the levels of government in Canada of establishing a high-speed rail line connecting Toronto to Montreal since the Milky Way Galaxy formed. Plans are to complete the project once the universe reaches heat death.
@@AlanSmitheemanI think they’re working on this in the US too! They told us it would be finished when the sun begins to expand and envelop earth!😊
As a train driver working for the Hungarian Railways I can definitely safely say the V43 is a marvel of engineering and the most high-tech high quality locomotive we have in service today, the German cars it pulls are peak quality and everything always works as intended, including the AC! I can't wait to be driving the V43 (a 60 year old locomotive) for the next 40 years to come, I look forward to passing by Siemens Vectrons and new ÖBB Railjets near Budapest only to go further out and have to hop onto a dying diesel locomotive that is also nearing 60 years in service! Glory to the hungarian railways!
On an unrelated note, does anyone know where I can learn to speak Czech?
My good sir. You just broke my computers liquid barrier with the ooze of sarcasm in your comment. 😂
It's pretty popular in Vietnam as far as I know. Yet in tourist aereas in Eastern and Southern Europe, German might get you far enough and as a Hungarian-Bulgarian-Romanian you most likely allready speak German, right?
There are courses called "Čeština pro cizince" - one of my friends taught it in Olomouc for years, I'm not sure if she still teaches it, but I think they may be available even online, now.
on Duolingo where else 😂 🦉
Yeah it's rough. Also do you know why does Katica InterRegional is always out of service?
As a Hungarian living in Switzerland using the trains almost every day, I was considering for a while selling my car but then I remembered, I have to go home sometimes.
As an Italian i can somewhat relate, you really need a car here. Hopefully I'll leave this country in the near future.
@@matthewackermanaski9687 Dont have Italy better trains than Norway/Sweden?
@@DOMINIK99013 Yeah, they also have a lot of remote villages with no public transit where practically half of the population lives...
@@matthewackermanaski9687Italy has great trains, idk what you're talking about. Although I haven't been to Sicily, Apulia or Calabria.
@@texanplayer7651I mean, everywhere has remote villages like that. I would wager that the majority of Italy's population probably live in cities like in most developed countries today.
I'm from saxony, and I constantly see abandoned railway lines when traveling through the landscape. It just rubs in your face how much potential there technically is for more good public transit :/
Communists cut these lines, because they were so afraid about Czechoslovak citizens fleeing from country. And after 1989 revolution there was no visionary politician to restore these or moneys are problems, if somebody propose it.
@@Ondr4H what are you on about??? The bulk of Eastern European rail was closed after the reunification. They got shut down to 70% capacity within a handful of years, while the rail capacity in the GDR the railways were kept running.
And the story of Czechs fleeing through the GDR is weird too? Border controls were super strict. Most flight attempts were through Hungary, Bulgaria, AND Czechoslovakia.
Dude, you need to start a score board with every europian country. Type of trains, network coverage, accuracy, etc.
hiking time between connecting trains etc.
"Say what you will about Orban, he makes the trains run on time!"
The trains on time:
this is gold
orban when he puts class 416 units in hungary out of service and has to remove passenger traffic on 10 lines:
Orban when he "accidentally" buys another football stadium
I don't know if this sentence is a joke or a real say, but in Italy we say (often to mock the nostalgics) that Mussolini made the trains run on time.
Which was not true, anyway.
@@urbanfile3861 congratulations, you found the joke
ADAM: goes on long rail-otaku rant about substandard public transportation in Europe
ME, an American, watching: What is this mysterious alien world I see before me?
The American version is to go not between two villages on an obscure route, but between San Francisco and L.A. . The missing section is not a hike, but an hours-long bus bridge because reasons. And you can't be back home in a day, given three trains/week.
@@karlkoehler341 Yeah lmao. As an American myself, even the worst European train lines seem better than what we've got here throughout most of the US.
@@karlkoehler341 sounds only slightly worse than intercity rail in croatia because over here it isn't three trains a week between the 4 major cities, but between 7 and 14. Still takes twice (or more, Osijek-zagreb is twice, Zagreb-rijeka and Zagreb-Split are 3 times longer and often break down because the landscape isn't perfectly flat like it is between Zagreb and Osijek) the time it''d take by car (if you're "on time", which you're often not) and 2 tickets without student or pensioner discounts are always more expensive than the fuel for a hatchback or a family saloon.
@@exoplanetarydev for one, it's unthinkable in EU to have a cargo train prioritised above passenger train, so it's not exactly a high bar to clear, yet the US fails it spectacularly
@@666Tomato666 Legally speaking, the passenger trains in the USA (well, the Amtrack ones, at least) are supposed to get priority. The freight rail companies who actually own the track get around this by intentionally making their freight trains longer than any of the sidings they would otherwise have to stop in in order to let the passenger trains pass them. This has the added 'bonus' (turns out it's actually become a pretty major problem) of meaning they run less trains total... and thus don't have to pay for as many crew to run said trains.
As an Austrian I absolutely adored the love you threw at the Railjets at 8:44
I miss Austria
Came here to say this. As an Austrian and lover of train travel, I felt a moment of national pride.
railjets are amazing but SO uncomfortable:(
Jeah, Railjets are inferior to Hungarian Intercitys
Railjets are the best, but they are overcrowded and only have like 5 or 6 bicycle stands per train
I grew up in Iowa (US midwest) with a railroad track going through my suburb right outside my house, about a 30sec walk away. It was used maybe twice a year with an exceedingly long train hauling goods at a walking pace speed. Until I was around 14yrs old, I was completely unaware that trains were used to transport passengers in the modern age. I always thought of black and white photos for that. Even then, I initially thought it was only super futuristic bullet trains or deep subways that were currently used. Most of the US has nothing in terms of public transport despite the infrastructure existing.
That was to be expected though. Our tracks were never set up to be a public service. They are owned by companies who found it to be more profitable to ship cargo via train than to ship people. People aren't willing to pay cargo prices to be shipped from one place to another. People can't compete with companies wanting to ship their cargo. The cargo was given priority which makes sense financially to the rail companies.
In Romania I travelled 130 km in 4.5 hours and the train staff kept the train doors at both ends open because the locomotive was so old that it could not power the AC and we baked inside. Also there were 20 cm of water accumulated between the window sheats of glass so I could see when the train was climbing or descending xD. I wont talk about the smell or the condition of the toilets.
I thought our Indonesian trains were bad and slow but 130 km in 4,5 hours? Damn...
In Argentina the travel throught a recent re opened 1000km railway took 29 HOURS to complete. They just can't surpass 40km/h because the ruined state of the tracks. And was publicited by the government as an ACHIEVEMENT
Thats basically bicycle speed...
Alba iulia - oradea? :))
At least you have toilets. That is an unknown luxury for most South African trains. There has also never been aircon on any of the trains so you alternately bake or freeze. And go on, but the state of our trains has become too depressing to contemplate.
Taking the train to "Nicht einsteigen" is for beginners. I took a bus to "Fahrer gesucht" via "Jetzt bewerben" last week.
I tried that too but i had to drive it myself, which was a bit annoying.
Reminds me of my adventure going to "Leerfahrt".
Don't forget "Kaffeepause☕". Always a bliss to be there
@@vortimerofkent128 Ich hoffe es war dir eine Leere
I regularly take the bus to “Betriebsfahrt”.
As an American, the Hungarian railways look like transportation perfection
Its definitely not perfect, I wouldnt even say its good
I was in South San Francisco some years ago. A main train track was close to the hotel. I was wondering why they are not put an electric line above the track. This way only diesels can use this track.
Can confirm, I also liked Hungarian railways better than those in my country.
@@NapiRockAndRoll : Most of the American tracks are owned by freight railways which run diesel, and passenger railways are secondary users. The freight railways view passenger trains as an annoyance and aren't going to do any more for them than they absolutely have to. If you travel from Boston to Florida, the train stops in Washington DC to switch from an electric to a diesel locomotive as you change onto different tracks. It's a horrible mess.
@@scottkludgedorsey4805 it seems it's a right time for an intervention from the government to change the regulations and give priority for the passenger trains.
But it will never happened, since the profit of the companies are more important for both major party than the citizens.
I wasn't expecting to be tempted to go on vacation in Austria just cause of the trains
But I'm sure feeling it
We have other nice things too, and most are reachable by public transport.
The nice thing about trains is that you can just google every station of a Railjet route and pick which cities you'd like to see. Then hop in the next Railjet one or two hours later
There's also a lot of nice landscape you can see while traveling though the mountains
As the hungarian saying goes MAV has five enemies, the four seasons and the passengers.
We say the same in Germany: The main enemies of Deutsche Bahn are winter, spring, summer and fall.
@@PascalGienger So you don't say the same in Germany. Please just don't even try....
Why so hostile, @@Balesz100? It was similar enough.
In Czech Republic the railway staff tends to reffer to the traveling public as "the substrate" or "the chestnuts"
We say that in Czechia as well:-) Although, I must admit that Czech Railways have made some significant improvements over the past decade.
This is the great story of our times, and I'm here for it. This is quality content. 👍
greatest bike spy
@@HDTomoI think you mean not “just bike” spy
@@MightyFineMan let's just call him the biken't spy
@@HDTomo sometimes biken't spy
In an alternate universe there is NotJustCars who brags about Europe's car infrastructure.
I think this is my favourite Adam Something video yet. Hilarious, insightful and a genuine criticism of a failing service.
You should do a european rail line tier list.
in the US instead of a good chunk of the line being ripped up, you'd see massive 200 car freight trains going 10km on the entire line blocking any crossing for an entire day while passenger service would only be a memory
I used to live in a small city crisscrossed with railway tracks (in Michigan in the U.S.A.). One time, a long freight train bisected the whole city and blocked all of the main roads for 9 hours straight.
Not where I live. 🤷 Northern Utah has a significant local passenger rail (NOT light rail, although we have that too) network called Frontrunner that I ride at least weekly. Always on time and always good speeds (faster than taking a car on the interstate). And the major Union Pacific rail lines are parallel to Frontrunner's so they never conflict. The network covers like ≈125 miles from north to south.
I grew up in Ohio and that sums up my childhood. One track in my hometown of Lima didn't have an underpass so I was SOL when they'd pass through when I had to get to my college on the far side.
@@Cooe.Frontrunner is still affected by passenger rail though- it's the reason frontrunner is limited to 1 track in some places north of salt lake (which is why your train will sometimes wait for the train coming the other way to pass before proceeding), and also the reason Frontrunner no longer extends to Pleasant view, and just stops at Ogden
Also I thought your comment was funny because the 'blocking crossings' thing is really bad in some areas around Ogden - my wife grew up on a street where both ends are blocked by the same rail line, with a train yard not very far down the track. So their street is constantly blocked on both ends-with no other outlet - by a train that just keeps moving back and forth while they attach cars or do some other work at the train yard
@@adriannaconnor6471 This is why more rail should be laid and split those up or better yet ideally have overpasses and under passes built everywhere like in many places in europe near high traffic passenger and cargo rail. Like one in my hometown. We got over passes built and crossings closed off. No waiting at all in both directions for miles or rather kilometers.
Or both You would only benefit from more rail especially currently non existant passenger rail.
Can we pay to send AdamSomething to Houston so that we can watch him have a mental breakdown.
Not just bikes made sure none of us will ever visit Houston. I can guarantee you that
As a citizen of Canberra, Australia, a place so in love with cars people constantly cry about the building of a nothing tram line, I'd rather give the CEO of coles gobbies than visit Houston.
@@alicealysia Wtf is coles gobbies?
@thechosenone1533 coles is part of the Australian duopoly, they, and their "competitor" woolworths collectively own 90% of all australian industry unilaterally across the board.
Gobbies is Australian slang for head.
I feel like that kind of torture violates the Geneva convention...
7:50
Adam: Ústí nad Labem
TH-cam subtitles: Alabama.
PS. as a fellow eastener from Slovakia living in Dresden and pendling through Ustecko, experiencing both the "best" of both countries - Ústecký kraj in Czechia and Sachsen in Germany, this video felt like i was there with you. Great job.
Man Adam needs to visit the UK to experience true TRAIN PAIN
that "train will continue to Nicht Einsteigen" joke was genius, holy shit
its like when i watched a train review by a english traveler and he described "nächste Station" as a place he had not heard of
@@JimbobsTransportVideos Oh, I know that town. It's right next to Ausfahrt.
@@rambo8wradio same municipality as STAU
@@Speederzzzoh, yeah, Endof Line goes there
@@Speederzzz Right next to the beautiful scenic small mountain town of Endstation Bitte Aussteigen.
Nothing ever made me feel more patriotic than Adam talking about the sublime state of Austrian trains.
But he should try the great westbahn services. Except for the lack of an actual dining car, I think they are so much better than our railjet services. Far less crowded, too
@@MatthiasNeumeister130499ITS the kind of competition that should keep both services in the toes
Railjet is amazing but ÖBB delivers some absolute shitshows on the Zürich - Budapest line, it makes my hair grey.
@@gpgp1841 more often than not due to the short German corridor...
I still don't know what's so great about them other than the speed though, it sounded and looked like the average train I'm used to for the past 10 years or so
Now I want Adam to visit The Netherlands and suffer a stroke of how relatively well it all works here.
"Relatively well" throws just the the right kind of shade. Dutch rail is simultaneously not as bad as we make it sound and sub par for what it ought to be.
There is a video of him & NJB cycling together & talking about things.
I cannot remember if the NS came up, but the overall dampness & shitty weather did.
Brings back fond memories of the time (in 1998) when I illegally entered the EU walking from the end of the line in Dolní Žleb, past a rusted out sign welcoming me to the DDR, to the end of the Dresden S-Bahn at Schöna.
Still better than any Greek rail line.. because at least you made it out alive.
So you guys are dying there? All better then kazakhstan, at least you didnt die in heat of a fucking hell for hours, because train are moving with a speed of snail.
Oh, we are getting there with recent locomotive fires and heating tank explosions.
@@noznozz I got stranded on the Pelopponesian railway due to the locomotive burning out ca 1988, good times.
What is this slander? As if head-on collisions followed by illegal cargo bonfires aren't common everywhere.
@@diametheuslambda happens alot in the USA. comment checks out
Find someone in your life who loves you the way Adam loves Trains.
Or better yet, find someone in your life who loves trains as much as you.
Contrary to popular belief, Adam doesn't love trains. He likes them, sure, but love... that's reserved for the Railjet service in particular.
*passenger* trains, lol
That is true love.
I think that if we add just one more lane, every traffic problem will be fixed permanently
I took a train from Berlin to Prag this summer and it was also the hungarian intercity train.
The seats were tight and uncomfortable, wifi didn't work and the sceen was saying the next stop was Hamburg... on a train to Wienna.
I was expecting the Romanian Train Line when I read the title.
me too
No can do, the tracks were stolen.
Same here,my man doesn’t know what he is talking about
same
I was expecting the Bulgarian National Rail
When I read the title I was like "No way, Adam finally visited Moldova, right after Independence Day"
It's been 30 years, but the Iron Curtain is still alive and well.
@@Haushaltsgeraet It also ran between Hungary and Austria.
as a Czech I can say WOW, you have a pretty good pronunciation of our towns and villages. Good work :)
You must visit Croatia by train! Bring the sleeping bag and enough supplies to last you at least two weeks.
All Austrian trains that actually DO come late are from Croatia over Slovenia...
even better: be born in the balkans so you can't actually visit any other country by train because our rails don't connect at all! incredible stuff we've got going on here
I mean Osijek-Rijeka isn't *that* bad, it only takes 15 hours or so and has the world''s shittiest restaurant car (if it has one) with no other source of potable water onboard. Any lines that go outside of the immidiate Zagreb can only be described as journeys of self discovery.
@@Alias_AnybodyOr Germany.
@@tallemajaskomentar tačno na mestu. Mađari i nemci su svetlosnim godinama ispred nas, a još kinezi nam grade pruge sad po Vojvodini. Sa obzirom na stanje stvari kod nas, ne bi me čudilo da Adam napravi video u vezi našeg saobraćaja, ima da mu pukne svaki krvni sud koji ima veze sa mozgom kada oseti svu lepotu paralelne stvarnosti😅.
As a Saxonian I got the biggest fit of laughter this year so far after the Freiberger Eisenbahn being called Shinkansen of Saxony xD
Me too. Its saxon btw :)
What, Saxon as in Anglo-Saxon? Never realized it was in Central Europe.
@@destituteanddecadent9106saxony is a state in germany
@@destituteanddecadent9106 Yeah, Saxons come from Northern Germany (mostly the current day State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), the State of Saxony (Sachsen) itself was conquered by Germans/Saxons from the Slavs).
A group of Saxons migrated to/invaded Britain and established West, South and East Saxony there (Wessex, Sussex and Essex, respectively).
Also, Angles as in "Anglo"-Saxon or England or Anglia originated from Denmark (mostly the peninsula known as Jutland or the Schleswig area).
@@abrakadabra2192 I thought it's Sachsen in German but Saxony in English?
tho i do like/respect local names
Adam using heroes of might and magic music in his videos makes me happy every time.
Some friends of mine did this to evade border check points when the border closed during the first lockdown. (They had to get back because Uni started again partially in person) Really felt like an adventure
Railjet is such a brilliant way of marketing the train as a high speed alternative to flying.
True, but if transrapid would still be a thing (in europe), it would be an even better alternative to flying...
You haven't travelled with the Bulgarian State Railways (BDŽ). Trust me, you're gonna love the Hungarian railways after that experience.
He should do CFR AND BDŽ next
Yeah, I'm traveling on the BDZ right now. True communist railway experience. 😂 They got the trains several decades ago and haven't changed anything since.
This was the comment i was searching for. People should be grateful for what they have. I think one long trip with BDŽ will humble everyone from central Europe.
I travel often with BDZ and at least I get out of the train alive unlike the Greek railways which is more neglected.
Yep, this. Needs to be seen to be believed. Also, nothing beats having the heat on in the middle of summer in 30C+ weather (and the guy telling you "he'll go and see IF he can do something about it" when you mention it 😅... He did, eventually)
More like this please Adam, after I went travelling I regretted not spending more time in your part of Europe, love seeing you adventure this picturesque countryside while having transport rants.
Nice to hear that our Railjets are so highly regarded. Didn't know that. Also didn't know that the ÖBB already has new ones in the Pipeline.
I would say that Czech high class trains with restaurant wagon (which are also going to Austria by the way) are also very good, but those older trains bought from Austria and Germany can be really terrible, that oldschool configuration with coupés can be good when it's empty, but when train is crowded, it's totaly terrible and there is almost zero difference between 1st class and 2nd class, you pay for nothing when you are in 1st class in these modernised western trains, even our average short route trains for commuting (Czech made in 90s) have better first class then these "renovated" western trains. And with new companies on train market, we see a lot of such crazy trains, our national company was known for having outdated trains, but in last 10 years it's more like vice versa, national company has pretty good trains now and private companies drive museums on wheels. Like when you go to Croatia with Regiojet, that's literally moving museum, not a train, but it fits Croatian rails, trains there go like 30 km/h, so using something more modern on such terrible tracks would be probably weird. 😀
I laughed so hard at "the vision: hungarian rail car, the strategy: hungarian rail car, the goal: hungarian rail car!" Omg just another solid video!
That looks so bad even britain in it's darkest times can do better
Austria: "welcome to heaven"
Czech Republic: "We know we can improve, but enjoy"
Germany: "It works, but cars though..."
Hungary: "Eat s**t"
... Slovakia: "...its OK, as long the train is rolling, but pray that the engine does not catch fire, or that your carriage does not uncouple from the rest of the train suddenly..."
@@chloralhydrate came to say this! In Slovakia the trains have their own ecosystems and weather built in. It's like going to the botanical garden on wheels while also traveling back in time. Great experience for adrenaline junkies
Germany: "It works, but we never said we'd be on time"
@@Daisy_Hell Dude 90% of the comment section has been: "Ok adam that's not nice and all but HAVE YOU SEEN SLOVAKIAN TRAINS?" lmao
@@yoriiroy1720 yeah well, for a good reason :D
As a hungarian, I'm so glad you made this video because I just attended the retro weekend of MÁV last saturday, where they operate retro vehicles around the lake Balaton. The first train I took was a "retro" InterCity train including the CAF dining car you also showed in the video, along with some other InterCity train cars from the 90s. My question all along was "why th is the 90s' intended InterCity experience considered retro now???"
But I could've also brouht up last year's retro weekend where I rode the "Samu" train (hungarian nickname for Samuel) which was the Ganz factory's attempt to make an InterCity EMU. Like with most of their other EMUs, this trainset turned out to be quite unreliable because of its electric equipment but the passenger comfort in those trains were quite nice for an InterCity train. We even got an InterCity magazine from the crew which felt really special for me. 90s InterCity train cars (apart from lacking sockets) would be more than adequate by now in Hungary.
On the other hand, I once purchased a seat in a brand new "Bmz" InterCity cabin car and I have to say that it was so fricking disappointing. There were retractable tray tables made out of the cheapest ugly looking plastic and I think even the manufacturers weren't sure how it could be folded out (there was only a screw holding it together so it could turn it in any directions, resulting in "dead ends"). But when I finally managed to fold it in its "being-used-state" (I'm not sure how), the surface of the table created a DOWNHILL instead of a horizontal surface.
The other crappy part was the armrests (made out of some cheap black foamy material you would find in an old soviet truck maybe(?), also visibly held together with one screw). They didn't have any mechanics or even friction, you just gave them a little nudge and they fell down in place like a knocked over coathanger. But wait, there's more: So, the charging sockets were located between the backrests of the 6 seats (a pair of sockets in each 4 gaps) resulting in the armrests COVERING them when they were folded up, but even when they were folded down, they just prevented access to the bottom sockets, making them completely useless.
After watching this video including very relevant topics for me, I felt the need to make my rant in return, all of it being included in this comment.
EDIT: I've learnt that the mentioned "Bmz" train car (made by CAF) have been like that since the beginning of its production (1993) which actually makes me a bit disappointed in CAF, they definetely did way better with their dining car. However, that still doesn't explain that during renovation, why they installed the charging sockets behind the armrests out of all places.
At least the hungarian railways dont make you weigh your bag like an airline like Via Rail does😅
My brother in christ hasnt had his wagon catch fire like in our Bulgarian trains.
Seriously, if i had an euro for everytine the previous year a train from Sofia to Varna caught fire I would have 2 euro... Which is not a lot but it is weird it has happened twice.
I remember taking the train from Sofia to Beograd and instead we ended up spending a whole day in fucking Dragoman while the train personnel joined some other workers in making impromptu fixes on some part of the track.
As an American I had never heard of railjet, but now it's obviously the best railcar design ever
railjet is truely the peak of trains in europe, i have traveld on a lot of trains but railjet is just amazing. So comfortablem bussiness class that makes premium airlines look like a peasants ride. great food and drinks on board. I dont think we will ever acchieve a higher point in society than this
@@jarno674yeah but a standard ticket costs as much as a business/first class ticket for RegioJet
It do look good, buut personal bias means i must worship the class 91 with mark 4's.
A push pull express train that never hits it's top speed in regular service, only privatisation has fucked it's lifespan being replaced by newer trains that don't look anywhere near as good despite having lots of life in them.
I love the little railjet section lmao. you know it struck gold when even Amtrak and VIA rail are running some version of the trainsets over here in NA. Having been able to ride it myself between Vienna and Munich, I 100% understand it’s high praises and can’t wait to get just a little taste of it in the states.
I think my favourite thing about MÁV is that on the Austrian(?) rolling stock they bought second hand, they didn't even bother to change the announcements.
I was on a train from Budapest to the lake and fell asleep, I woke up in a panic thinking somehow I ended up in Austria - but no, it was just announcing random towns in German as we went through the Hungarian countryside.
Second favourite is the communist-era carriages which roast you to death in the summer and have doors which require a feat of strength to open.
Adam, you think MAV sucks? What you just described there is a mix of Science-Fiction and "best case scenario" for CFR - the Romanian Railways.
The toilets on a modernised DDR wagon in CFR should be used only to torture Nazis.
We had card payments introduced by CFR THIS YEAR IN ANNO DOMINI 2023. And I bet it will take them another 3 years until card payments actually can be used in all trains.
... fuck, I am sure that the DDR cars you are mentioning were called "the Honecker's revenge" back in my country. The seats were so small, that even with my measly 183 cm, I could never fit in with another passenger on the seat opposite to me. And the smell was also something to behold...
in croatia we only have card payments at major rail stations, smaller ones and onboard are all cash (or through their shitty app that a 10 year old probably programmed as their first project and if you have some sort of discount you still have to verify its validity with your own rail card.), we have 2 restaurant cars in the entire rolling stock that only are part of consists between july and september. There are no sources of potable water onboard outside of those restaurant cars, we only have 1.5 lines that go over 100 km/h and the faster one was built in the 70s (and subsequently had its track speed gradually lowered as it became more and more neglected). The average speed on most of the lines is below 60 km/h etc.
Serbia has a similar situation, but their tickets are cheaper at least.
You have card payments???
"should be used only to torture Nazi" is such a great insult haha
In Croatia its even more worse... The train operator falls a sleep at home an decides there is no trains that day from Zagreb to Split.
Funny, I just traveled with Deutsche Bahn today and the reason for the 30 min delay was given as 'verspätetes Personal' -> 'Personal beeing late' in the App 😂
He's not joking, we had a driver who overslept recently and the train was like 2 hours late because there was no one to drive it.
Look, at least the driver didn't fall asleep while they were driving
Oh my god I took the 'sleeper' from Zagreb to Split a few years back. I say 'sleeper' because I slept for about 30 minutes as I sat bolt upright as I was deafened by the noise of the train winding along at 2 mph through the mountains. Fun times.
The trip back during the day was pleasant enough though, if you've got a spare 6 hours. At least the scenery is nice.
A one day delay would be absolute luxury. I live in walking distance of two passenger rail stations, going and catching a train at one of them would be really nice, but I'd need a time machine to take me back to the 1960s.
Dozens of trains come through town every day, they're all freight.
In Slovakia we have a train from Kraľovany to Trstená. It makes its 56km long journey in 1h 50m and it's used by locals quite a bit. If you'll be around that area, give it a ride!
9:25 on the first listen I genuinely heard "…pulled by Siemens/Xerox printers…".
I live in Romania. Trust me. Nothing can be compared to how bad CFR is. They haven't been changed or repaired since communism, they always have delays, they move extremely slow, some trains don't have AC (or it's not working), sometimes it can smell like piss and the list goes on. I swear to god I can't comprehend how the Romanian railway network was incapable to improve after more than 30 years of communism. They did a better job during communism than what they are doing now.
That is because nobody gives a shit about trains.
People don't care or use them (because they suck ass) so politicians don't either. And its easier to steal by building roads. BDZ in Bulgaria seems to be a similar experience compared to the CFR by the way you described it.
Yeah CFR sucks but things are moving the right way still, in 2024-2025 we'll have a finalized brand new line between Curtici (Hungarian border) and Sighisoara, it's already a crazy improvement compared to the past... also they're about to launch the renovation of others major lines like Bors (Hungarian border)-Oradea-Cluj or Arad-Timisoara-Lugoj-Caransebes, it will take a lot of work to do these but in few years we'll have some pretty solid train lines, just what they are finalizing between Arad and Sighisoara is pretty impressive, finally a proper modern line built with modern standards.
About rolling stock, last year they bought 37 new trains for inter-regional service, from Alstom (Coradia Stream) which is very very very good (especialy compared to the MAV story in the video) which will be delivered starting this year. So yeah things are bad but there's light at the end of the tunnel now 😎
Păi nu s-au îmbunătățit fiindcă toată lumea și-a luat BMW second hand dân Germania. Dacă nimeni nu mai circula cu trenul, ce să îmbunătățească?
@@CalinFRdacă e mai rapid cu trenul decât mașina, ceea ce ar trebui sa fie, atunci poate oamenii o să le folosească. Un tren nu ar trebui să aibă viteza maximă 100 km/h
@@soneamatei4798 părerea mea e că timpul petrecut in spatele volanului emai degrabă timp pierdut. Ajung un pic mai repede într-adevăr, dar ajung rupt. Un tren face mai mult decât o mașină până la destinație, însă avantajul e că mă cobor din el relaxat. O oră, două în plus, nu mai contează, că nu am afaceri de miliarde. Deschid un laptop, o carte sau stau pe telefon pe tren. Timp câștigat după părerea mea. Cobor în centru Bucureștiului, nu stau încolonat in Militari sau la oricare alta intrare în oraș:))
I think this is my favourite of Adam's videos so far, very entertaining!
I'm from Ústí nad Labem and this is the second time you mention my city in one of your videos. I appreciate the fact that you visit even such small places in the Czech Republic as Moldava. I hope you will make a video about brutalism sometime, there is a lot of it in Ústí.
The comedic timing of "Sachsen. Land von Welt." was absolutely on point!
Austrian Rail should be sponsoring you on Patreon. I'm actually excited to use their services now.
Wow, the Hungarian train actually has speakers and intact interior pannelling. Compared to the trains in my country, they are luxurious. Also, not only is there a bathroom, it has soap, a door that can close and a coat hanger. I am impressed.
I really want you to review Romania's state rail- especially the Bucharest- Suceava line! It's everything you dream of-- in a nightmare!
being an American I envy all of this. even the worst stuff is better than what we have.
I was about to type the same thing 😂
Right? At least the trains were on time and he made his connections. On Amtrak you’re lucky if your train arrives within 24 hours of scheduled arrival
Lol ouch
Amtrak has nice plush, quiet and comfortable, if not all that modern, cars. I like them ! You can even take your bike on Amtrak trains. Amtrak is bad not because of the rolling stock. Amtrak suffers because: The schedule sucks. Add on top of it an app that is not that functional, ticket machines that often don't work, a website where finding schedules is difficult, high fares with unpredictable discount schemes, and generally slow speed.
Here's the thing: a denser, predictable schedule is just more important for most people than plush cars.
@@Skip6235 a time window of 24hours??? Ok that's something else.
As someone from Chicago in the US, this train still lookin better than some of our shittier run lines.
“Well, there’s my problem.” DONT THINK WE MISSED THAT ONE MR. SOMETHING
As a Austrian I really like the video, and the praise for the ÖBB.
As an austrian i feel honored to be included in the video
Klimaticket ftw!
The ÖBB is running everything so smooth and clean. It was so chill traveling trough Austria, no Problem with delays or something.
Hope someday Germany can go back to that.
DB is so chaotic, they have not enough tracks and old technology.
Didn't know Austria was still a thing. I thought you were Germany now.
@@julianshepherd2038please let this be sarcasm..
@@DerPijO
Fun fact. DB has enough tracks. The Problem is, that there is "die Deutsche Bahn Aktiengeseltschaft", which has only one shareholder, the German state. On the other hand we have the "Deutsche Bahn Netz AG", which is also owned by one share holder, the German state. No the fun part, the DB AG runs the train tracks down, because than the German state rebuilds the tracks for free for the DB Netz AG, and they have less operating cost, as well as free train tracks. Also refunding laws for train tickets in Germany are kind of a joke, hence they do no bother to keep train tracks in a good technical state. No go figure, why it is all not working here ....
As a romanian, i feel this, except here we have those carts with bars and stuff. They are all abandoned
Btw 3 hours delay from time to time isnt that rare
MÁV is ok, CFR is shit..
Try traveling between Brașov & Budapest with both operators and tell me which one's worse.
@@InconsistentBastard bruh i went to germany one time to take a train and i was completly shocked at their system after a lifetime of CFR
Once I took a train from Bucharest to Ploiesti only to have the door open during the ride. Since then, I don't go near the train-doors while it moves.
@@felixsteininger bro i was on a trip from bacău piatra-neamț and there was only 1 wagon and all the doors where wide open, it wasone of them 2 floor wagons so the doors where massive and i just sat there hanging by the bar for dear life
Well we didnt have ac so i guess it makes sense, they just wanted some fresh air👍👍
took the cluj-Budapest train. going to Budapest, there was no power in the car. No charging, no lights. coming back the locomotive broke near szolnok and the train got parked there for 7 hours. we only got bullshit announcements in Hungarian, no English. The cars got coupled to the next train to Romania. At the border the romanian crew chief found out he had basically two trains, not one. No one bothered to inform them of the addition. The worst part is that the two trains were supposed to have different destinations, and i still don't know how they solved it. This made CFR look way, way better than MAV. Btw, the MAV website is also shit.
Honestly as a former student in my country romania I can say I was dependent on the train but I always had to plan in advance which destination I want to go if I wanted to arrive on time, it was always late or if on time for a 64 km ride it took 1 hour and 45 min. Good times I always find people to laugh with or students who are going back to their families, yeah fun times, oh the smell not even to this day I can not get that smell out of my head it is so unique the combination of sweat piss and shit, and diesel fumes mate takes me back. :)))))))
Enjoyed this, might be worth thinking about doing a video like this for each railway network in Europe? It nice to get the honest views on the good and bad of a network. Might be an excuse to travel as well haha.
Currently watching this video whilst traveling on a Railjet train.
And since I am Austrian and therefore obliged to complain: The seats are uncomfortable, the toilets are too small, the wifi is unreliable and the only real issue is that the high-speed oriented bogies make a lot of noise and wear on thight mountain curves, which there are a lot around here. But there are about 5 mountain base tunnels set to open in the next decade, so i guess oh well. But I really hope the next generation has softer seats.
I was sitting in the train restaurant, minding my own business, while drinking coffee I ordered from then when this ÖBB waiter said that the table is "reserved". There were tables that were marked reserved but this wasn't. I assume he was just making it up because I didn't order food
Tbf, the seats can also be upgraded during a refurbishment of the interior (assuming the operator does do this for their trains every x years).
Sadly the trend is going towards tougher seats recently.. I have no clue why.
@@magnusaugust8489 Easier maintanance, less likely to hold liquids/smell. Thats why many modern metros and trams feature plastic seats
@@magnusaugust8489 probably due to maintenance reasons. They don't rip as easily and therefore don't have to be replaced so often. Oh yeah, and footrests. I really miss those.
Squirrels may not be controlled by government satellites, but they're controlled by bloodthirsty rage.👀
They are controlled by some Demon. Why would the chew through cables, just to die? Possessed I say.
We need to ask mighty Laser Kiwi for help to counter this threat
The squirrels ARE controlled by Saxony's Ministery of the Interior and a part of the Saxonian Customs Police and were trained and released in the early 2000s to make sure only the 'right kind' of people cross the border (=Hikers, Beer Suppliers and rich people). Hence the missing train line to Czechia - to discourage people from entering.
Since Adam travelled from Saxony to Czechia, they let him through, but had he made the way back NOT looking like a proper German Hiker, who was feeling some Wanderlust and Bierdurst and became bettschwer but like a refugee or social migrant, they would have refused entry to him.
Do more of these pls, this was very enjoyable to watch. Also, you’re doing what I fantasize about doing all the time, taking a random trip to the middle of nowhere just to see what it’s like haha
Man I love your enthusiasm for the trains it's actually infectious
Fun fact: Also reopening the Sebnitz-Rumburk lines, goes on the Czech train company's credit. They even built up the tracks right until the border to get the German media's attention.
I love that saxony is controlled by the CDU for 3 decades now, which is more intrested in even more autobahn expansions instead of reviving our rail lines.
When you try to build rail infrastructure in rural Germany, a million small-town boomers wake from their torpor to complain that they don't personally benefit from it because their town isn't connected to it. So they only ever build more roads.
A boat collided with a rail bridge in Weener, north-west Germany in 2015. Rail service between Groningen (Netherlands) and Germany beyond the bridge is yet to resume.
@@HeadsFullOfEyeballs
And they will never go on the new road in a village in a different part any way.,
Saxony always gets the shorter stick when it comes to infrastructure funds from the federal government. There used to be a direct fast train from Leipzig via Dresden to Wrocław in Poland.
Then Germany and Poland reached an agreement to electrify the tracks (it was all diesel before that). The Poles treated it as priority and completed the project on time. The Germans went the kaputtsparen austerity route and cut spending on train infrastructure and the project was first postponed and then scratched all together.
Now there can only be diesel on the German side and only electric trains on the Polish side. The result: no fast and no direct trains between Saxony and Lower Silesia any more. You can take a painfully slow regional diesel train to Görlitz/Zgorzelec or Węgliniec at the border, and then take a painfully slow regional electric train also stopping at every village on its path on the Polish side. Sometimes you have to change in Zgorzelec AND Węgliniec. There are no intercity/eurocity trains on this route any more, they are not viable.
So, now the 380 km trip from Leipzig to Wrocław takes 4h by car and at least 6,5h by train. As far as I know, there are still no plans to unfreeze the project of electrifying the tracks. Or connecting Chemnitz (a city of 250k inhabitants) to the ICE/IC network.
As an austrian I am always happy to hear sth nice about Austria. We are so bad and stupid about so many things, at least our trains are nice.
Hmmmmmm I'm not sure bro, I wanted to book a Wien-Berlin night train and was surprised to see that there was a single pretty shit intercity option not made to sleep, and priced at a very indecent price. I ended up booking a flight sadly. A lot can be improved I think...
@@manu.yt25oof bro, let him have his moment for once
What is bad and stupid about Austria? I don't know much about it.
@@nomadben You know, we like to complain about literally everything. Also our government is quite stupid to be honest and many people are pretty unhappy with it.
@@manu.yt25yes i know, the night trains outside of austria are horror. I travelled myself yesterday from vienna to venice to catch a ferry to greece. I travel often with nightjets in austria but those need tons of overhaul. 6 people stuck in little cabins to "sleep" i dont know why they cant make them more modern.
It's very good to be criticizing the passenger rail we have. Too many urbanists get lost in "we need rail" and forget that the rails need to be functional.
I for one greatly enjoyed this Hungarian adaptation of the Odyssey!
This is the most interesting Railjet advert I've ever seen.
I think we've found the next sponsor. That is, if the world runs out of VPN services.
As an Austrian I have to say, our railway system and trains are the only things left here to be somewhat proud of. The rest, naja...
Austrian villages are beautiful! Each of them are like straight out of postcards. I'm sure you can be proud of many things about your country and nation besides Railjets. The only thing that was embarassing for me while traveling on a Railjet was the conductor not speaking English nor German. She was Hungarian working for MÁV, we were traveling in Hungary and we had to translate to the foreign passangers about what she wants from them. Now that is something one can not be proud of.
Ahh ich würde es nicht so schlecht sehen. In Österreich laufen die Dinge derzeit gar nicht so schlecht so ganz generell. Sieht man ja auch am Klimaticket zum Beispiel.
You literally only have to jump across the border to Hungary to realize: Maybe austria isnt so bad afterall
Did you forget about the extensive Austrian social housing? It's something to be envious of in any other country experiencing w housing crisis.
reminds me when I was on a Seminar in Tatabánya. The government there is led by opposition to Fidesz so that's nice but when it comes to trains... well the main line is ok in terms of speed but the stations are just 95% unenjoyable.
And then I once went between Fertöszentmiklos and Sopron. As soon as you get back to Austria you already know why you don't miss Hungary XD
@@HelloOnepiece
At least you guys have trains, here in Canada we have to pay 500$ to travel across the country.
Reminds me of my trip to Serbia last year. They have a real nice rail line between Novi Sad and Belgrade (sponsored by Russia and China) but to get there you have to take a coach or fly, because it is connected to nothing.
That is the price for having the Yurop's most corrupt government.
Actually no. i mean yes haha. The gov. invested in highways because EU funding would come for trains anyway but never did because of the corrupt gov.
Hmmmm, pretty sure Belarus is in Europe too, and so is the portion of Russia that contains about half of their population. That's competition, at the very least.
you gotta be more specific
hungary not having railjets or austria having railjets?
Nah, MÁV stopped giving a shit about their services more than 2 decades ago.
Till this day I dont understand how such a country can be part of the EU
Looked on Google maps. Not only doesn't Holzhau to Moldava have a rail line, but there's no bus service either. There's seriously no option to cross the border with public transportation.
The Hungarian trains also makes the Swedish railways look world class as well...
Don't worry, if our current gov't gets to keep the course we'll reach Hungarian levels in no time!
TBF, the german side of the border is, as adam pointed out, full of right wing boomers who only cross the border to get cheap fuel and cigarettes. And this part of the mountains is also visited by fewer tourists, most go either to the biggest mountains (Fichtelberg/ Klinovec) further west or the Elbsandsteingebirge further east
No worries. Our current Swedish semi-fascist govmt have just denied EU subsidies to fix our failing rail infrastructure bc "climate change is a hoax" so we'll be right there with the Romanians/Bulgarians in no time.
The Swedish railways ARE world class. Admittedly I travelled only in the Stockholm county by train, but I never saw a more punctual railways system than that. I live in Milan, Italy and the railway service here can be pretty good, when it works. But when it doesn't, bring yourself food supplies, anti-rabies vaccines and a shotgun.
@@DarioCastellarin well your high speed rail works much better than the one in Sweden though. Also the reason the trains run on time and are world class in Stockholm is due to the government spending most of the rail maintenance money in that region. Take a commuter train in Gothenburg or Malmö and you're gonna notice a service difference (or take the train between Stockholm and Malmö, the worst mainline route in my experience in Sweden as well as the route Gothenburg-Alingsås where the high speed trains shares tracks with commuter rail)
As a Swede, I enjoyed this video. At least someone else has as bad railway as us. Thank you 😪
As a fellow Hungarian that train you described was a peak quality one. I wish i had them on the line i used to use. I mean on that line the train quality was beyond garbage. Just the usual: , hanging panels, open electric boxes, and constant loud beeps because the door is unable to close for the duration of your travel. This was actually great because if you had these problems it meant the train was actually going 😅
I took the Eurocity from Hamburg to Budapest not so long ago with family. The compartment we reserved was spacious, Toilets were ok and the waiter spoke good english and understandable German and the dining car was nice. The only downsides were that there werent any high speed tracks after Berlin and the wifi was bad.
The (rightly) shits on Hungarian Railways, but the reasons he give are laughable and barely scraping the surface.
I traveled “first class” on the “high-speed“ German ICE, from Munich to Würzburg. At every turn, water poured down from the ceiling. They told me “This often happens when it’s raining.”
outside or inside the wagon? Outside would indeed be normal.
Ive never experienced that in an ICE
As a polish citizen I can't imagine anything better than a Pendolino
As a czech citizen I can´t imagine anything worse than a Pendolino. It combines all the downsides of a plane (pricy, cramped, constant shaking and periodical tilting) with a speed of a train.
Eh, intercity was cheaper if I'm not wrong and is still quite quick (also it takes more people)
@@wlodek7422 Pendolino is a lot more expensive, but traveling with it is another dimension of comfort.
This video is a mood. I don't know what mood exactly but it's definitely one of them.
Thanks for risking your life for us, Adam! You are indeed Something.
I would love a european Railway Tierlist of something to that effekt.
Dang, this is a well put together rail video. Thank you so much for it, I had a blast!
This makes me appreciate the UK rail network more. haha