Would you ride Romania’s WEIRD high-speed train? - Softrans Hyperion Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ค. 2022
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This week it's time for a ride on Romania's own high-speed train, built by Softronic in Craiova, and operated by their passenger division, Softrans.
These units run at up to 160km/h (100mph) on routes between București (Bucharest) and Craiova, Brașov, and Constanța. Whilst this might not be true high-speed, the acceleration and speed is definitely the best in service in Romania.
In this video, look out for some of the weird aspects of the train's interior, some of which are good and the rest not so. Also watch out for some of the really surprising stuff I saw out of the window, it's something you never really want to see when on a train...
Enjoy!
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Journey Details:
Origin: București Gara de Nord/ Bucharest North station
Destination: Constanța
Company: Softrans Călători (SFTRA)
Train: CFR 141 'RES' (Softronic Hyperion)
Accommodation: Second Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 140 miles / 225 kilometres
Price: 34.00 RON (£5.90 / €6.90 / $8.20)
Time: 2h06m + 17L
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When l was a child we would go by train every year from Warsaw Poland
to Constanca . The train was pulled by steam locomotive through Poland
and USSR . But as it would enter Romania you could hear a low sound
of the modern , powerfull diesel engine . We were pulled by Romanian made ,
very modern for that time unit . Many yers later i discovered that they
were made by Swiss liecense . The change from steam to diesel
on this trips will remain in my ears for ever .
Well said how about crossing into Germany in your time German democratic Republic there is a Romanian made locomotive there the DR Baureihe 119 U boat. Original engines were West German Mercedes Benz License produced in Communist Romania but replaced by East German engines.
@@EpicThe112 we never went to DDR . But Romania had a number of
a unique western surprices . Tarom , the Romanian airline in the 60's
operated British jets . What a shock it was to see a RR logo on
its engine . Everybody was flying Soviet planes in E Europe .
@@piotr.leniec-lincow5209 Thanks for telling me about that also Romania made SA330 Puma Helicopters. Unlike your Home Country Republic of Poland which made licensed produced Russian Helicopters at the PZL plant. The reason why that happened was that Romania had Ceausescu as it's leader.
@@EpicThe112 did't know about the helicopters .
Czauczescu was an a communist outcast doing
things his own way . This Swiss liecense diesel
locomotives were a result of a big argument with
Soviets . They didnt want that deal .
But Romania , a mountanius country wanted
a Swiss locomotives , and did just that .
For a moment I thought you meant Constance right at the Swiss border. ^^
It's actually very cool that softrans revived train production in Romania after a complete collapse of the old factories. I think they now have an order for 100 locomotives for Sweden.
Exact! Locomotive LEMA Transmontana 6600 KW!!
Their locos seem to be quite popular in Europe.
care productie ? poate mentenanta care si aia o au prost...
vezi ca prodcutie si productie reparatie inseamna 2 lucruri diferite
well if we don't buy them other countries already do bro, especially for carrying goods
@@notoriousbig3k Productie inseamna productie. Transmontana is toate fabricate noi.
I'm very impressed, as an Romanian, you pronounce the names the towns have great, which most people don't.
Its just good but not impressive because there are letters he did pronounce where he should not :)
Just because it's streamlined, doesn't make it a high-speed train. 250 km/h is the lower limit for proper high-speed trains, though some consider 200 km/h on old upgraded lines to be high-speed as well. It's not even the fastest train in Romania - the green and orange train seen at the Bucharest train station (an ex-DSB Class MP, now operated by Astra Trans Carpatic) is capable of running at 200 km/h on lines that allow those speeds, although Romania has no such lines.
250 km/h is the standard. Everything with speeds up to and above 200 km/h is considered high-speed.
The original UK HSTs from the 70s did 125mph (201 kmh) this is actually the maximum speed allowed on the UK rail network
@@LMZLMZ-gs2dk As a bare minimum, you need to reach 200 km/h for it to be classified as a high-speed train.
From Wikipedia:
"While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds above 250 km/h (155 mph) or upgraded lines in excess of 200 km/h (124 mph) are widely considered to be high-speed."
250 km/h or above is always high speed. 200 km/h or above is high speed according to some, but not all, definitions. Below 200 km/h is not high speed at all.
@@davebirch1976 no, it isn't. the maximum speed on british rail network is 300 km/h on HS1. but basically upt to 200km/h is standart mainline speeds, as this is generally top speed of standard loco-hauled trains and even some regional EMU's. 201 - 249 is sort of grey area and from 250 is HSR as at these speeds you need a fully dedicated high speed rolling stock.
@@mancubwwa yeah that's what I meant, on the ancient pre existing track which most of the UK's train network run on.
Atleast they built it in their own
Earned my respect
Doesn't matter how it performs or looks
They tried
They are proud of it
In the future they will build beautiful strong and fast trains
Since they know now how to build one
Unlike many countries that just buy them
Many of these countries are developed and rich as well
But Romania isn't the wealthiest but still very forward and progressive looking
Romania is still wealthy.
Check out for Astra Vagoane, to see what they are doing
Thank you, that is a very thoughtful comment. 🙂🙏
If I may say, Romania has always had a foot in all the important industries. We have been building trains, cars and even airplanes since the start. Before communism we were really competitive with the rest of the modern countries and produced everything there was at almost the same standard.
But after 50 years of communism + 30 years of God knows what we should call it 😅 a gap appeared between us and the west but slowly we are recuperating through our factories which are, again, building the knowledge to get where others are nowadays
@@serbanhv9338 If you would apply the same criticism you have for Romania *today,* to how it was before WW2 - you would conclude it was *still* a pretty young & backward country, primarily agricultural and trying to catch up to the formerly imperial Western Europe.
❗So, how about you *appreciate* the progress & democracy you have today (instead of belittling it) bc Romania *has never been* this advanced or prosperous - compared to the rest of the world - that we are presently. 🤨🙄
Try to study the interwar period from some international economic data, as well. And see that Romania wasn't ranked high. The train in this video is *also* competitive and produced at "almost the same standard", btw - not "building the knowledge to catch up" or wtv.
So we are now, the same as we were then.
Softrans was founded by some young students of Transportation. They builded their first train, 100% romanian materials, as an experiment. Proposed an offer for CFR (National Railway Company), CFR refused and they started the company (Softrans). Builded several more trains (free coffee, wifi, web ticket ordering, stuff like that..., pretty advanced services for that time), now operate on several lines and growing, having also orders for manufacturing trains, from outside countries.
Interesting, thanks!
Tap water flow in the substandard toilet reminded me of Eurostar with the sign "our taps are a little slow"
Oh yeah, a fancy design but not very practical! 😂😂😂😂
The reason these seats remind you of bus seats is probably because they are. Every feature just seems to be made for buses, including the grip handles on the back of the seats.
definetely bus seats
Oh well.... it's a 2 and something hour jpurney and it cost what? 7 Euros? What do you ppl expect? Good grief! Talk about entitlement...
@@MarcelaElviraTimis no one its griefing and you can pay even less in western europe, that's not the point. It is clear that this train was made with few resources and had to be cheap, it is not a guilt. For this reason it looks odd, and people are curious about it, curious even about the bus seats, but you should not take that so personal.
@@lokibau or they can charge more for a similar fare...
@@MarcelaElviraTimiswith this logic we will never have good trains
7:33 it is a train crash from July 2021 . The mechanic of the locomotive that caused the accident in Fetești, being under the influence of alcoholic beverages, was detained for 24 hours, IPJ Ialomița announced Thursday evening. The man was driving a freighter with 41 wagons loaded with scrap metal and traveling from Craiova to Constanța Port.
he entered the station C.F. Fetesti on line 2, colliding with another freight train, stationed at the C.F. station on the same line.
Thanks for the information. I was wondering!
he was drunk because thats what the company wanted to blame if you want to know the truth the trains are in poor condition and poorly maintained ever ride one in Romania ? dont worry u might be one of the 8 victims that die each year in a train accident dont believe the media its easy to accuse drunk and drunk when the company implodes ticket prices and take money from us and 0 upgrades
scary. was somebody injured ?
I am surprised by your good pronunciation of the Romanian words. Thank you for choosing to travel to Romania and showing us the content!
I note the the opening words of the introduction include the description 'Romania's OWN (my emphasis) high-speed train'. It does not match international standards, but it is a home-built unit able to travel at the fasted speed allowed on Romanian tracks. Therefore, I think it's fair to describe this as such. I was very interested to learn about this train as my previous impression had been that everything in Romania crawled around at fairly low speed. For such a low fare, who could complain - except perhaps about the toilet facilities? I think some of the seats on brand-new British trains are less comfortable than those appeared to be. Within the competitive market which is now prevalent on Romanian railways, this seems to be an offering which appeals to many. Great review.
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed the video!
@@SuperalbsTravels My father in law works at softrans,he is a train driver on the Hyperions you rode to Constanța.Not only that this train is built in Romania but Softronic is building LEMA locomotives for export,2 being ordered by Czech Republic last year and I heard some are being built for Sweden.He took me in their depot to see them being assembled before putting them through final testing.If you would like,I can provide you with some pictures of such a locomotive from my work place as the company I work for owns 2 of them as well.Give me a way of contacting you and we can keep in touch.
It's funny that as a Romanian, I had no idea we had such trains... Never traveled in these ones! 😄
There are loads of different types of train in Romania!
*I am living in France ( as a German ), Romania ( France little sister ) is a very strong world Industrie Country, for exemple: the German CONTINENTAL did bild in Banat a city in a city. **th-cam.com/video/I99xikq354g/w-d-xo.html**, ROMARM is one of the biggest weapons producer of the world ( French Technologie ): **th-cam.com/video/ePuQMNO-rfg/w-d-xo.html**, and here , in Bucharest , THE CLUB ( full with French special people ) , has the main Center of the world: **th-cam.com/video/53e__OwWqdI/w-d-xo.html**, but this is only 10 % of the huge Romanians Industrie and Technologie. The Laser Nr. 1 of the World is in Romania: **th-cam.com/video/V5Qg-IATqAc/w-d-xo.html** , Grand Salut !*
How do you travel
Yeah, it's mostly called a high speed train for marketing reasons. Like we called the first generation Siemens Desiro the "Blue Arrow" and most people still think it's the fastest train in Romania, even though the old, normal ones can run faster.
The Hyperion is simply a neat little commuter train that can run at 200km/h on proper track. Track that is missing around here.
Nevertheless, it's a pretty big achievement to design something as complex as this from the ground up and have it work properly. Kudos to you, Softronic!
Almost all modern trains in Romania are actually commuter trains used for long distance travels, such a shame.
Kind of yes, kind of no. I mean, the only ones that I know of that fit that bill are the Siemens Desiro (ugh), the French and Danish (yuk IC2s) second hand stuff used by private operators and some bilevel traincars pressed into InterRegio service (the seats on those things are back breaking garbage if you sit on them for more than an hour and the AC is usually not strong enough to cool the whole car during summer).
More often than not, though, the traincars are good enough, and you'll even see old InterRegio traincars pushed into service on commuters. They might miss _some_ amenities like 230v sockets and sometimes AC, but man those things are comfy.
it doesn't look like a commuter train, but a regional train.
10/10 pronunciation of our cities man. I'm impressed.
Thanks!!
I was surprised to see this EMU, of which I was not aware of. It was a nice try by a local company, which I think it's not bad although the product clearly does not seem to have Alstom or Siemens standards of course.
As other readers pointed out, I believe it technically is not a High Speed service per se, but more an Intercity EMU, although I get the impression that you tried to emphasize its uniqueness in the country and the most close to a truly high speed service.
I have really liked your past videos, keep up the good job👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you very much, glad you enjoy my content! :)
maybe it's because i am romanian but i liked the decision of calling it an HSR because historically, like 'skyscraper', it's a term that's used in relation to current standards
while i would like the standards to be higher, it *is* the fastest thing we have here so calling it 'high-speed' makes sense on the local level
technically not HSR, but HSR in our hearts (until we hopefully invest more into infrastructure)
@@aiocafea you may call a chicken a peacock if you wish, but at the end of the end it will cackle nevertheless
@@k0k0m02008 or you can call a pony your horse until you have what it takes to get an actual horse, the only differecne being size, temper and overall strength. Cheers
joining in late but the video failed to mention this whole company was started and is run by a college student who made a model train as a project, contacted the national train service for a contract, they refused, and he started his own company just to make the sour, the train is made by a college student and exclusively using local materials and engineering, it doesnt have siemens standard because its not made by a multi billion euro company, it was made by a literal dude with a dream
The Hyperions are not the only electric trains/train lines in Romani and the majority of trains in Romania are built in Romania, not second hand from abroad.
Yes, there are some private operators using second hand trains from abroad but there are just a few.
For example when you said that most of the trains are second hand from abroad (1:16) you were filming a Romanian train.
The locomotive is a Softronic Phoenix (6600kv/~8844hp and max speed 200km/h), built by Softronic, the same manufacturer who built the Hyperions and the carriages are built by Astra Arad also Romanian manufacturer.
Also all the trains and locomotive from 3:22 to 3:37 are built in Romania as well as the locomotive at 7:34(CFR class 42).
It's not highspeed, just an average EMU for short - medium distance services, with a basic level of comfort.
Even the acronym that you've probably noticed at either end of the trainset - RES (at 1:55 can be seen as well) - stands for "Ramă Electrică Suburbană" (i.e. _Suburban Electric Multiple Unit_ ) so it kinda explains the lack of comfort that you'd expect given their marketing campaigns.
I think you've also noticed the significantly cheaper fares it has on the same route compared to CFR Călători's Regio Express services.
Let alone their non-stopping InterRegios to Constanța.
I travel quite often with these trains between Brașov & Bucharest lately & I can't complain given the prices. Decent & reliable.
All in all, a nice review, looking forward to see more content from you covering this part of Europe.
Regards!
Thanks for the information! I have a lot more to come from Romania, and neighbouring countries like Bulgaria and Serbia, among others. 😃
But at least toilet paper and water for hand washing should be provided. ^_^
@@5mnz7fg we miss those in our school too mate we dont have toilet paper nor hot water.
Its just our thing
@@enclave3555 Oh!
@@5mnz7fg sadly true I tell you from my experience
I think there's a reason for all the food concessions in the station: as a rule there is no on-board catering whatsoever, neither food nor drinks, even on the 14-hour journey from Bucarest to Budapest. I wish I had known before boarding...
actually there is a limited selection of snacks and drinks on board trains, but only in the sleeping cars. if u end up in or next to one, maybe u can ask the ticket man to let you get something as they will mention this only to the sleeping car passengers
@@doomy330 Thanks, that is good to know, but this was the daytime train. Only three cars on departure (which should have been a warning, I suppose), two second class and one first, then doubled in length at the Hungarian border. What I loved was that at each small station en route that we did not stop at, the station master was on the platform to greet the train.
no food or catering allowed? The hell you mean? Some mates of mine brought a freaking sandwich maker on a trip once together with salami and bread. We made sandwiches inside the train and served the ticket-checking lad (dunno it's name in english) as well
That is not always true, on a few trips from Bucharest to Sibiu or Bucharest to Suceava, a railway employee sold sandwiches, snacks and beers
We travelled in 2017 on the Interregio from Brasov to Budapest. The train was equipped with Romanian cars bought second hand from Deutsche Bahn and a Hungarian restaurant car offering good food and drinks for low prices.
It's faster than anything on the US West Coast, trains out here max out at 79 MPH.
I feel better now :)
79 MPH = 160 KM, Here is MAX15 0KM,but not on all distance (~ 105 KM)
@@lnk77 79 MPH = 127 KPH
@@lnk77 Ur math is bad. And the OP is also talking about max.
@@lnk77 1 land mile in the USA equals 1.60934 km. 79 US miles = 1.60934*79=127.13786 km
Great review, thank you! I found the bus-style seats quite amusing. The ticket price is affordable. The book shelf and coffee machine are a nice touch.
Very nice, quirky and interesting trains in Romania. As always keep up the good work 😄
I love your documentation on where you go, cities, viliges and how you make the effort to pronounce correctly all the romanian names. Great video. Thanks for coming around here. Hope you'le make more videos in romania and that you find interesting stuff here(i recommend Jiu Valley, Olt Valley and Bucovina as nice routs to take).
I wouldn't call it a high speed train since almost all trains apart from regio trains can reach 160km/h on this line.
High speed trains normally have a average speed of 200km/h.
Apart from that, great review!
At 5:09, the seat it does recline, but u have to push yourself against the backrest & simultaneously push that button!
the train is able to go with higher speed,but the railroad is limited to 160 km/h
I congratulate you for an objective and compact informative report. all the best!
Great video, I have taken this train on this exact rout a few times before and your review is spot on.
I discovered your channel a week ago and now your channel is perhaps the most viewed channel in my home. :)
i live in Romania and i have to say that 17 minutes delay is incredibly low.
Hahahaha, I was surprised that most of my trips in Romania were actually very punctual!
Cool video & very nice train 😍
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching. :)
Great work by the team
Looks like a comfortable train to ride on! I've only taken one train in Romania, an IC from Oradea to Budapest. We especially loved the private compartment seating.
Excellent video as always. Do you have any plans in coming to Ireland for a trip report any time soon??? Keep up the great work!!!
1:09 a former german class 624 unit. How cool is that! I have been grown up with these
Very very interesting report!
I am truly grateful for pointing out the issues in the CFR regional trains units, and I do hope, out of pure shame, they will start to uphold the services for which we all pay, especially on privately owned and operated units.
I AM ADDICTED TO THIS CHANNEL, BINGE WATCHING ALL VIDEOS
For anyone watching and thinking "what a delapidated train station.." please take note that it used to be way worse and it was full of shady people in the past, but the local authorities have a number of actual police officers patrolling the entire station now, making sure no weirdo is lurking around. It's also a bit more modern now, it used to be very old and worn out. The general vibe and atmosphere is nice and has that Vacation feeling in the air, at least for me and you do see many foreign people during summers making it feel more cosmopolitan than it usually is. (im saying all these because most other Romanian train stations are like a blast from the past, but not the good one, the soviet one)
Personally I love it, but the tracks are a little battered.
Great and informative video. Although not actually high-speed as claimed in the video but nonetheless a very interesting looking train. When can we expect a video from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia?
Estonia I've been to, and will hopefully go to the rest soon. I want to ride some TEP70s! 🥰
When you started with ‘the beautiful Gara de Nord’ I though you’re making fun of it 😂 also, that toilet was among the nicest you can find on Romanian trains, you were lucky
numa romanii pot vorbi naspa si cand straini vb frumos
I think the station is lovely. From the outside anyway!
I'm currently in Constanta having yesterday come from Bucharest by train. I took a CFR Regional Express train which was quite nice inside but broke down midway through the journey, and then I had to wait for another train which was super slow, therefore my journey was delayed by about 3 hours. That said I'm not sure whether I will take Softrans back to Bucharest, it seems quite weird, or which train I should use.
The toilet you entered was actually one of the better train toilets I've seen while in Romania...
Oh dear! That sounds like an experience...
But you're right, even if the toilet wasn't perfect, it was better than some (such as many of the Regio trains).
caruta
Well, my experience with a train breaking down midway was on a train from Brussels to Paris. It broke down shortly before the border, had to wait a couple of hours for another train to take us back to Brussels, then crammed into the next train for Paris, did the whole journey standing.
@@SuperalbsTravels I rode an international train from Budapest to Oradea (Romania), and the employees in the bar told me some horror stories about how terrible the railways are. Having to go at just 40km/h because the rails were wobbling so much, at other times the driver going at speeds well above the limit, downhill no less, almost causing derailment... On that same journey, on the Hungarian side we had to wait for a delayed train for almost an hour because there was only a single track. Sadly, as a college student, I can't afford buying or mainaining a car, so I'm stuck with this until I get my first proper job.
Edit: the horror stories are from Romania, not from Hungary, but they're pretty terrible too. Once, an InterCity train was so late they made us go with a double decker express with the original passengers, and then transfer, but after we transferred, the InterCity train got a defect, so the double decker slower train they put us into initially actually passed us...
I always recommend Astra Trans Carpatic. I always had a great experience with them. And they have the best toilets xD
Those red DMU's are old Dutch trains nicknamed 'Wadloper'. Used on the rural lines in the North of The Netherlands(:
Are they still in NL as well? :)
@@SuperalbsTravels Nope, they were old and sold to Romania(: Good to see them there tho!
The delay for your trip last year was caused by the train crash from Fetești. And I remember that I travelled with an night train from Suceava to Constanța and I stayed an hour in Țăndărei because traffic on that track was delayed for wreckage removal.
And about Hyperion Train, I'd like to travel with him and I wish to see that train in CFR service in the future.
With the state rail operator CFR Calatori, you can arrive in Constanța in 2 h without any other stops on the Journey
Oh look at the lovely repainted wadlopers from my old town. Much love from Groningen to Romania.
Softrains trains are built for speeds up to 200km/h, but we don't have such lines in Romania. In fact, almost all of our modern trains and locos are built for 200 km/h.
I laughed when I saw the title ... " high-speed"! Thumbs up for your effort, pronouncing everything perfectly, documenting about small stops, history lesson and the courage to travel by train here. By the way, this is the first clip i bump into from your channel and since you're saying in the video about worse experiences with trains here, you must be talking about RegioTrans. 😂If that is the case, next time, walk... Yes, walk! Trust me, its better than R-T and in some cases, faster ( if you can believe it! ).
Honest rewiew!👍
Like
Really interesting collection of German, French and Danish units in Bucuresti.
I wouldn't call it high speed. More like Softronic's attempt to build an equivalent to a Talent or Flirt. And looking at some of the quality issues it's not that much of a wonder it's not a great international sales hit.
By the way, these won't remain the only electric units in Romania. CFR Călători has ordered 20 units for 160 km/h to go into service in 2024. But they weren't convinced by the homebuilt product and ordered Alstom Coradia Stream instead.
Where will the new units operate, do you know?
@@SuperalbsTravels they will be used for long routes, like Bucharest - Cluj, Bucharest - Craiova, Brasov - Cluj and so on.
In parallel there is a new auction to buy other 100 units for regional trains
@@grizzlyx2000 Oh no! That sounds horrible... 😥
Super nice Video! LIKE!!!
Kinda surprised that you didn't find any toilet paper or soap. I travel to Craiova every year using only softrans for it's price and trains and always find these essentials in the restroom.
Maybe a lot of people took a shit that day, who knows. Ceau Pisii :*
I was travelling this railway line in 2017 with an CFR Interregio train which was bought second hand from Deutsche Bahn.
The line Bucuresti - Constanta is the only railway line in Romania with a maximum speed of 160 km/h. Hence, the CFR locomotives only reach a maximum speed of 140 km/h. In practis, they very seldom can speed up to 140 km/h because of the bad state of railway infrastructure. Even on the high frequented mainline from Bucuresti to Brasov, there are long sections with bumpy tracks and speed restrictions of 50 km/h.
The toilets on Romanian railways are generally in a very bad state. We rode on several railway lines in Romania. Nearly no train had proper working toilets (with toilet paper and running water).
Even the Gara de Nord of Bucuresti doesn't meet modern traffic requirements. The roof of the station has got lacks. We entered the station during heavy rain and the rain was running into the main hall.
All platforms of Gara de Nord have low level platforms making boarding the trains adventurous for older or handicapped people.
The tracks in and around Gara de Nord are in such a bad state that trains can enter the station only with a maximum speed of 10 km/h.
Furthermore, the CFR has got a graffity problem. You'll find only few trains without graffity on windows.
On the plus side: The CFR offer very cheap prices. The second plus are the frequent night trains also on short distances.
WOW, your pronunciation of Romanian words is almost flawless, congratulations!
well it's high speed for Romanian standards 😆.
Also the front reminds me of the Talgo locomotives...
I'm hoping that there are works to upgrade the existing railway lines to a decent speed (at least over 100 km/h in all the main routes).
Its true but don't underestimate Romania.
well trains can go over 100km/h in romania on main routes but onlt private ones
Depepnds on the route.dont expect to go 160kmh in a village route
This train looks like a German 1st generation ICE highspeed train of the late 1990ies.
I am glad they got rid of those steam era sleeping cars, in which Count Dracula used to travel and whose compartment doors use to be adorned by garlic bouquets.
i live in fetesti and once when i was in the station waiting for my train to constanta i once saw this train.
Oh cool! :)
@@SuperalbsTravels they are super rare
I am pleased you called it "bus-seating" because it is!
Thanks for sharing ♐️👍
You should have seen their neighbours in Bulgaria during the 70s/ 80s. The 'toilet' was a hole in the floor, similar to an Arabic design. No need to worry about the water tap not working, as there weren't any fitted. That said, it cost pennies and I might well be one of the few Westerners ever to be permitted not only to visit the cab but also drive on of these trains.
By comparison what you've shown is the height of luxury.
Experienced that in Serbia and Ukraine! 😭😭😭
Super video! Great train ride with Softrans Hyperion EMU! Good job! Thumbs Up & Subscribe 🚊👌👍😎
Greetings from Romania
Andrew
Thank you very much!
as a romanian bron raised still in bucharest it s a really good improvment last trian related for me was 2015 and was mad now it s seems a litle good which is very good as i seen on some news in 2026 it will be fully modernized withou the old ass 60 locomotives this is the most lacking part of romania but now seems to grow again very nice video
In previous videos I've seen of Bucuresti Nord, they didn't have electronic timetables; they were instead fixed signs posted along the concourse near the ceiling where those posters you saw were. Also, the selection of shops was more spare. Looks like they've been busy upgrading.
the timetables have been electronic for at least 15 years now. Foreigners usually get flabbergasted when they see the old fixed signs that they completely miss the electronic ones.
I was about to be like "meh" about this video but when i saw 2004 (1:16) you sir, just earned a like xD
btw, that's also built in Romania
awesome video
Thank you :)
Very good price for this journey. I would not use the train toilet anyways. 😂
Thanks, probably a good idea!
Those seats looked more comfortable than many on UK trains where are often surpassed by a park bench. A lack of toilet paper and even water is familiar with many UK services. Often had to struggle the length of a crowded train to find one with both present.
1:13 ah, the failed Danish IC2. Having ridden it's big brother the IC4 on a short trip, I can say there's not much wrong with it...as a passenger, but reliability and problems with the order plagued DSB for years, and the IC2s went out of service really quick.
I liked it, and yes great value for money. Travelled twice, so clean compared to IR and Regio
3:29, some of the coaches, are abandoned, stored for spare parts, or just waiting to be modernised (those in blue ,,express scheme'' are in use, atleast that's what I know)
There was an internal competition for which town to become the European Capital of Culture (the year changed because of Covid). Craiova did compete, but did not make the cut even for the final. Timișoara, a wonderful Western town, won the competition.
they awarded it cus it has a shit ton of 19-18 century builduings
@@notoriousbig3k They did not award anything to Craiova if that is what you mean.
@@FlorinArjocu they were talking about timisoara
5:42 the stop at Ciulnita (where you said only has 1000 residents) actually serves two towns: Calarasi and Slobozia, together with surrounding villages, so a population of about 130.000 people.
I had no idea that there were other operators besides CFR until this year. I guess that Softrans provides a little more comfort than CFR, but since the latter is cheaper (and free for students like myself) I don't think there's too big of a difference.
@1:12 I feel you miss an even cooler train - the Danish IC2 by AnsaldoBreda.
Was at Gard de Nord this morning, getting to the airport😅.
That seems super! Greetimgs from turkey.
Thanks for watching!
I have a few things to add, since I have used that train countless of times.
The bathrooms are always like this in Romania, if you don't buy some paper towels you can't really do anything and that bathroom state is the norm.
The seats are busslike since they do want that, since they capture dust, and make small stains incomprehensible.
The high-speed train as you call it, doesn't meet the standards for that term, but we can't really do anthing about it since there are regulations for the speed a train is able to achieve, because of the old and in a few places, even unmantained tracks.
And in the end, even tho it's a small as of now train company, it's reliable and sometimes even better than the competition, with free rides for students and such.
Still tho great video and I'm glad that I've heard some good words about Romania :)
At the right side of the platform at 1:49 its an old 'Wadloper' train from the Netherlands. Out of service since 2008.
I wish you had included a picture of Medgidia station where it meets the line to Tulcea. From there you can catch a very slow train to join wonderful boats cruising the Danube Delta.
Nice video!
That logo of UniCredit looks a bit similar to the logo of First Group isn't it
Thanks! Lol, I see what you mean!
Great accent, good job
I think for this price is ok. In Zuerich with a equivalent price i would not be able to get a dayly ticket for the trameways.
well everything is a lot cheaper than in Switzerland... but also make a lot less money. that is why if you are on a budget, for foreigners, Romania is def a good choice
@@vicu_negru i know. I was in 2008.😂
I actually tried one of these trains myself and the experience was very nice,
Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it.
as a romanian, it pains me to see how low we have sunk when it comes to infrastructure. I cringe when I see what our trains (and don't get me started on the railway stations in most romanian cities) look like when compared to western europe. It's like we are stuck in a weird ugly 1980's period, which is ironic since in 1980's Romania had good trains. I thank you for being gentle and describing in a polite manner the trip, train and the railway stations, but we all know that it was not a comfortable experience. I, for one, know I will NOT travel by train in my country anytime soon
Infrastructura e problema! Trenurile sunt bune, te asigur! Ai putea să mai incerci din când în când și trenul, că e destulă aglomerație pe șosele!
@@cristikes5477 pai exact aia am zis si eu. infrastructura: calea ferata, garile, sistemul de cumparare a biletelor si chiar si angajatii. Degeaba e trenul ok (si cand zic ok ma gandesc ca are dotarile de baza, nu SF-uri ca aer conditionat functional 100% sau bai curate si dotate cu sapun, ca in restul UE) si raman cu el in mijlocul campului pentru o noapte intreaga. Suntem varza...
1:28 if I'm not mistaken, the diesel train on the right here is an ex-NS Wadloper 😃
For this fare, you can travel in London to only one station very cheap compared to UK train tickets.
Softrans: This seat can recline!
The recline button: Doesn't work
Superalbs: So that was an F'in lie
Softrans: *Reality is often disappointing*
We were once best buds with Romania so it's great to see them progress. It ain't much for now, but it's honest work
Hahaha, thanks for the comment as always! 😅
Do you progress?
How interesting to see a rollingstock manufaturer run rail services with their own equipment. It looks like it does the job well in relative comfort. I wonder how 5 operators on the same route make a profit though. By the way - I really like how you present the route at the beginning of your videos starting and ending with the railway stations.
It is a really interesting state of affairs, but to be honest, almost all the trains were fully booked on all operators on this day, so they must get it to work somehow!
thank you for the positive feedback.
Very good effort to correctly pronounce the Romanian words, which is not at all easy! That alone shows attention to detail.
Thanks for noticing! :)
Tourists will be prepared when travelling in Romania thanks to this video.
Hope so! 😁
In india as well we are developing our Own indigenous HSR
We built VANDE BHARAT
Which is a semi- high speed trains
Travelling at a max speed of 180 kmph
We also in future develop trains which will surely reach speeds around 240-250 kmph on our OWN
Every 2 years the railway unveils a new upgraded VANDE BHARAT trains
With many new added features
We too are importing High speed trains from Japan
But developing own technology is important
Good for you, I have visited India few years ago, and it was actually much nicer than what I expected based on what I learnt from movies, media, etc.
High speed pooping train
Can you do Greece? They have a new high-speed introduced to their railway.
I think (as a romanian) that the classic trains (locomotive+coaches) is more comfy than this Softrans train :)
Well it depends! Some of them are really nice (Astra Trans Carpatic), but some of them are horrible...
@@SuperalbsTravels yeah, also CFR in some cases is ok 😅
@@trainspottingfocsani150 Some of the more modern ones are really nice! I went on one that was very modern, not sure what carriage type, but felt brand-new! Had some Italian seats I believe, I think they were brown.
It was the CFR Bmeet 2176.95.
@@SuperalbsTravels uh, i know them, we nickname them as "buses" because of the seats and the windows :))
"Novel feature" .... very good!
Oh! I didn't even notice that! 😂😂😂
Please make a video about the the famous North Korean bullet trains !
I'm wondering what the 2 notes say on the wall in the toilet. Can't imagine it's something like "for a good time see Maria seat 12B"
niiiiiiice scenery and trip🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
The "Hyperion" =))), seems someone has been playing too much Starcraft. xD
It's a sweet train, reasonable priced. You get what you need inside, it's clean. I see nothing wrong with it at all. Go to Bulgaria to see the worst trains possible
Have been to Bulgaria before, it was fun. Got a few videos coming up...