It looks like the train from Gara de Nord to a field near Otopeni airport, opened with so much fanfare not so long ago, is about to be consigned to the history books. It is attracting few passengers and losing money (but then so is the whole of Romanian railways). Four trains will be cancelled from Friday, leaving just six each way per day.
The problem of course is that the journey takes so long: the train does not deposit passengers at the airport itself: the journey is completed by minibus and takes well over an hour. All it would take to extend the line to the airport terminal is less than one kilometre of track and a platform or two (an idea we had a long time ago).
Alas, we can’t see that happening. Expect the route to be closed anytime.
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I actually find that the authorities have created a very dangerous situation by not building highways. It was fine when everyone just drove Dacia 1310s. But now that so many Romanians have luxury cars with 300-500 horsepower it can be very crazy on the narrow two lane roads with people flashing their lights as they come up behind you at a high rate of speed. There is no room for passing and on the next bend will be a horse cart going along at s snail's pace. The police do not do speed control outside villages and so terrible accidents are waiting to happen. The most harrowing driving I have ever encountered has been in Romania. Try driving for a day and you are exhausted by the end after having had to avoid animals, carts, nutcase drivers, potholes and beautiful young women along the road in the various farming communities always smiling at you.
David, Bucharest Life and Valentin Mandache got it just right. There's plenty of room in Timis County for 4 or 6 lane highways but what do they do? Fix up the two laners (and a pretty lousy job of fixing it is). And one of those is an "international" road. It seems to me Geronimo is the pot calling the kettle black. (Either that or he has no clue as to what's going on here in Romania.) Pestele de la cap se impute! (Fish rot from the HEAD [get it?] down.)
That is just symptomatic of how this country is going to find again its place as a Balkan backwater. If the authorities can not bring themselves together and finance 1 km of railway line to the airport, then what about the much lauded huge infrastructure investments that would help take the country out of recession? They did not even try to market a bit more seriously the train line; thought like in the communist times that the people would come there anyway. Also the locals much prefer to use their flashy and expensive cars, sitting in interminable traffic jams to reach the airport, rather than a poxy train, in their opinion, used mostly by eccentric and moneyless foreigners. It looks that the crisis has not yet bitten as it should be in Romania and bring the exalted locals back to their true worth.
The only way to cross Romania at any kind of speed is by plane. You can hire cars from Hertz reps at both Baia Mare and Oradea. Fly there with Tarom (internal flights are very cheap if you book it well enough in advance) and then hire a car to go further west.
As for why Romania has such slow railways and no motorways… There is no political will to invest in either. In 20 years the only stretch of motorway to be built is the measly 180-odd miles to Cernavoda, where it quite literally hits a wall with no sign of work recommencing. The only part of the railway network to be upgraded is Bucharest-Ploiesti.
On the subject of railways, why does it take me 12 hours to go from Gara de Nord to Baia Mare? That's a distance a French TGV would cruise through in 3 hours. Why doesn't Romania install high speed rail as well as highways? I have rented a car a few times in Romania and the entire country is full of narrow two lane roads that often become dirt roads and/or riddled with giant potholes. What's going on?! It's 2009, nearly 20 years after the fall of Communism and Romania has no infrastructure. I am unclear on what the authorities are waiting for. Why not do what other countries do and put in roads and a railway?
God, you're stupid