MY ‘GOLDEN AGE OF RAIL’ TOUR ON ROMaNIAN RAILWAYS
Amongst people of a certain age there seems to be a must do set of unappealing holiday plans that include getting blisters whilst walking the Camino, gorging yourself at the ‘all you can eat Mike Pompeo buffet’ on a cruise ship and paying exorbitant amounts of money to go on a ‘golden age of rail’ expedition complete with opulent 5 star sleeper cars and degustation menus curated by a celebrity chef.
No electronic indicator boards on the ‘Muntenia’. Old school paper destination cards and the odd spot of rust add to the charm of the experience.
I love catching long distance trains, but my rationale is to get from point A to point B and avoid the rigours of airport check-in. A half decent meal and a good night’s sleep is a bonus. I can live without the degustation menu, the bespoke accommodation and the thousand dollar a night invoice that comes with the experience.
Romania is a bit of a hidden gem for long distance train travellers. There’s an extensive network of railway lines that criss-cross the country which, for the most part, are poorly maintained and the rolling stock usually moves at a snail’s pace, so if you want to spend lots of time on a train this is your country. For all of my apparent cynicism, the experience of travelling on Romanian rail is overwhelmingly positive.
Bespoke East German light fittings and veneer panels adorn the corridors in the sleeper car on the ‘Muntenia’.
This year, I developed my own ‘golden age of rail’ expedition when I caught the overnight sleeper service (IRN78) between Bucharest and Timisoara. If you’re really keen you can take the train all the way to Budapest which will take the best part of 16 hours.
Still not exactly sure of the purpose of this seat. It comes with a fold down table, so you can wile away the hours outside the 1 star drop dunny.
For me, one of the delights of catching a sleeper in Romania is that there’s a better than even chance you’ll end up in a car that was built in East Germany back in the swinging 60s. The ‘Muntenia’(the name refers to a region in southern Romania), to give this train its formal name, certainly fits this brief.
An old school hand brake, to help you out of a pickle, should the vintage East German technology have a catastrophic failure.
The sleeper cars on ‘Muntenia’ were manufactured in East Germany by the then state owned VEB Waggonbau Bautzen and they are still plying their trade seven nights a week.
This beautifully designed ladder will help you reach the top level of your bunk.
Some nerdy ‘golden age of railway’ buffs are probably champing at the bit ready to jump on board and enjoy the 5 star service and beautifully restored sleeper cars just like you’ll find on the Caledonian Sleeper or the Indian Pacific. For better or for worse, the sleepers on ‘Muntenia’ are 'unrenovated' and the overall feel is retro, in the truest sense of the word.
The veneer and fittings are showing their age, but given the reputation of iron curtain manufacturing, the ‘Muntenia’ is holding together well.
The ‘Muntenia’ departed from Bucharest Nord bang on time, at 9.10pm which is a good start on any Romanian train. It was a bit damp and there was an early spring chill in the air, so perfect conditions for a night on the rails.
Once you're on board, it's surprisingly comfortable. I lashed out and paid for a single supplement sleeper. When I say lashed out, it cost me about AU$150, so small change compared to what you'll pay for the other type of ‘golden age of rail’ sleeper. The beds are surprisingly comfy and there was plenty of room in my compartment, although I'm not sure I would like to be sharing this space, especially with someone I didn't know!
A typical sleeper on the ‘Muntenia’. There’s a high end Hungarian 90% duck down doona and a luxury inner spring mattress to get you through the night. Needless to say your car also comes with a Sonos sound system and video streaming on demand.
Your sleeper will come with a handbasin. Don’t be fooled by the two taps. There’s only cold water. Some compartments have a shower, but don’t get too excited if you land one of these, again you’ll find hot water in short supply!
In an age when the interiors of high end modern trains are made of 90% plastic, the ‘Muntenia’ is all timber, albeit with a 1960s communist veneer. It's so bespoke, you can see the screws have been inserted by hand; they're ever so slightly imperfect. The toilet on the other hand, is more than slightly imperfect, I'd call it a bit of a disaster. It's one of those old drop style jobs, where there's a prohibition on doing your business while you're at a station. It's grotty and a bit smelly, so prepare yourself for this unwanted trip down memory lane. If you've never used one of these before, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
When you're in your sleeper, it can get a bit warm, as there's a heater ticking away in the corner. Just in case you’re still a bit chilly there’s another heater turned up to 11 in the corridor outside. I reckon even on a freezing winter night you won’t be feeling cold on the ‘Muntenia’. On the night I travelled, I had to open the window in my cabin to get some fresh air. I’d imagine that in the middle of summer, it would be hotter than hades in one of these sleeper compartments. The East Germans, didn’t see air conditioning as a necessary inclusion on these carriages. I guess that’s part of the utilitarianism of communism.
A drone shot of my sleeper compartment.
Once you get moving, it's not too hard to imagine a bunch of Romanian party hacks taking a group of their East German colleagues on a 'fact finding mission' in say 1969. The carriage would have been filled with a poisonous mix of alcohol, tobacco smoke and a large serve of hubris. No doubt there would have been lots of self congratulatory back slapping about the successes of the Marxist Leninist project. Meanwhile the average Romanian lived a pretty hellish life struggling to make ends meet and queueing for the basics in life. Even having sleeper cabins on a socialist rail network suggested there was one rule for the party hacks and one rule for the plebs who were no doubt shoved in some old school, overcrowded rattler. You have to love autocrats of both the left and right. Their politics might seemingly be a long way apart, but the one thing they have in common is the complete absence of a conscience.
An ex communist party hack dreaming of the glory days of the Romanian Revolution.
11 hours after leaving Bucharest Nord, the ‘Muntenia’ pulled into Timosoara about 30 minutes late; quite punctual by Romanian standards.
Surprisingly, in spite of the age of the train, I had a good night's sleep. The ‘Muntenia’ does its share of rattling and rolling through the Romanian countryside and it never reaches any great speeds, but it’s the kind of experience that money just can’t buy. Go with what’s on offer and you’ll have a great evening.
In spite of images that can suggest otherwise, the staff are generally very helpful on the ‘Muntenia’.
Timosoara station is pretty impressive, even if a little run down. It certainly needs some love, but work is being done on the main terminal building which, in its most recent iteration, dates back to the mid 1970s. At its heart, the station is a brilliant piece of Soviet brutalism, you just hope they don’t remove too many of the rough edges. It’s definitely worth a wander round the terminal before you make your way into town. I have no photos to share here as it was all a secured work zone when I passed through, but you can get a good idea of the aesthetic from the street.
This trip has inspired me to take on another Soviet era sleeper train in 2027; Bucharest to Chisinau in Moldova.
If you’re considering catching the ‘Muntenia’ be prepared to provide your own provisions. There’s not even a snack bar, let alone a dining car, so if you want food and drink bring your own. I might add that the water in the handbasin is not potable. There’s a good range of food outlets at Bucharest Nord station. They don’t offer degustation menus but you could certainly create your own Mike Pompeo buffet before boarding.
By the way, don’t get ripped off by overpriced booking agents, especially NinjaRail when you book your seats on the ‘Muntenia’. Go straight to the source at Romanian Railways and you can reserve a spot without a fee. The website has an English version and it’s super easy to use. Typically, bookings for domestic routes, open 30 days before the train departs, so get in early if you want a single supplement sleeper car
