The sleeper from Bucharest to Satu Mare, expected to arrive a mere 17 hours after departure
Now, however, news reaches us that you can indeed buy Romanian train tickets online.
Oh yes. Right here, in fact.
And do you now what, it is relatively easy to reserve yourself a ticket.
You need to sign up, creating an account, but you of course only need to do that once. From then on you can buy your tickets online in three steps. Easy.
The main problem (we knew there would be one) appears to be the unavailability of a ‘choose your seat’ option. Basically, you appear to get whatever seat the computer throws at you. If anyone has found out how to actually choose their own seat, do let us know.
Other that that, we think this is a major step forward.
So it is all the more galling that the trains themselves become less and less agreeable. It is rumoured that when the new timetable appears next month, huge, scheduled delays would have been added in. Satu Mare- Bucharest will become a 17 hour journey (as opposed to 14 now). The distance covered is 782 kilometres, so that’s an average speed of a ‘hold on to your hats’ 46 kilometres per hour.
Other problems on the railways include the news that the line from Brasov-Sibiu via Fagaras (currently closed due to the collapse of a bridge last Spring) will go unrepaired until at least next summer.
And that a line which is usually one of the most useful for visitors to Romania.
Still, at least we will be able to buy our tickets for our cancelled and delayed trains online. That’s progress of a sort.
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Forgot to tell you: today is my birthday
“so that’s an average speed of a ‘hold on to your hats’ 46 kilometres per hour. ”
- you made my day Graig!! thanks!
@Leif: No worries. By the time the book comes out they would have repaired the bridge. (He laughed…)
@Davin: I have some of those cardboard tickets somewhere. Priceless mementoes of a bygone era.
Of course this news would come out 36 hours after I’ve submitted the LP Romania 5 manuscript. Stop the presses!!
Craig,
when did they do away with the cardboard tickets?! When I first visited Romania in spring 2000 those were still in use and I remember being wowed by the archaic nature of everything in Romania.
@Jen: bridges fixed in a month in Romania?! No way, we’re in 2009 not in 1980.
It is not even a major problem, it is a small bridge. But if there is no money there is no money.
seriously? that line broke 2 days before artmania (only a festival which takes thousands of people to sibiu, nothing important) and it screwed up a lot of plans, but i thought i’d be fixed in a month, not a year! yay for cfr…
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