And in 2024, Romanian trains will be slow and delayed with long delays, but the year will bring some important changes. The first new long-distance electric trains will arrive, several InterCity trains will be added, and one of Romania’s busiest rail routes will no longer run. Otherwise, the speed remains very low.

Brief information

• The biggest change is that traffic will only be carried on a small section between Cluj and Oradea as construction sites open for modernization and electrification, which will last until the end of 2026 at best. The road to Oradea will also be more circuitous (60-70 km more) and will take even longer (even more than 14 and a half hours from Bucharest, compared to 12 hours on highway 300).

• Another novelty is that the first new trains from Alstom, which will be used by CFR Călători, will enter into circulation. In the best case, by the end of the year, there will be 3-4 trains in circulation. The first could circulate from the beginning of the year, the second probably in the second half of the year.

• Long-distance trains, over 600 km, will run at an average speed of 50-55 km/h through many restricted zones. The journey from Iasi to Timișoara takes about 17 hours, and from Cluj-Galac it takes more than 13 hours.

• There will be many trains, both CFR Călători and private, on the Brasov-Bucharest-Constanța route, and the journey times will be good.

• IC trains are also introduced to Piatra Neamts and Galati, as well as to Arad, Cluj, Suceava and Iasi. Their travel time will be long as they will stop frequently to separate/receive groups of carriages.

• Travel times are slightly reduced on the upgraded sections between Sighisoara and Cimmeria and between Deva and Arad. Travel times between Bucharest and Craiova, between Timisoara and Arad and between Timisoara and Lugoz are increasing.

• There will be very few trains between Bucharest and Sibiu and between Bucharest and Galaţi. Next year there will also be no trains between Urzichen and Feurey on highway 700. There will be only one train per day between the two county capitals, Ploiesti and Tirgoviste.

• Since Cluj – Oradea will no longer run, the line 310 Oradea – Timisoara will be very important. Unfortunately, there are many speed limits, so most trains take more than 4 hours for 178 km, and those that stop everywhere take five hours.

• There will be several international trains: a Dacia train to Vienna, several to Budapest, several short distances to the Hungarian border, a train to Ruse and a Prietenia train to Chisinau. In the summer, there will be a direct train from Bucharest to Sofia and Varna, as well as a train to Istanbul.

• The new train timetable comes into effect on December 10, 2023 and will be in effect until December 14, 2024. CFR Călători (Sun Trains) seasonal trains will run from June 15 to September 8.

Bucharest – Brasov

In total, there will be more than 30 trains per day, tickets will cost from 26 lei in Regio and 61 lei in IC. IC trains are the fastest, taking approximately 133-136 minutes, stopping only at Ploiești Vest. IC trains travel 166 km in 145-155 minutes with seven stops.

The slowest will be the Regio train, which takes 4 hours 25 minutes, as it often stops to let other trains pass.

There will be about ten private one-way trains that take between 2 hours and 45 minutes and 3 and a half hours.

Bucharest – Constanta

The fastest will be the two InterCity trains, which go non-stop in 2 hours and 7 minutes, and the ticket costs 74 lei. IR trains run for approximately two and a half hours and have four stops. A ticket for them costs 65 lei. Private trains take between 2 hours 15 minutes and 2 hours 45 minutes, depending on maximum speed and stops.

Iasi – Timisoara

Direct trains will run twice a day, the travel time is about 17 hours.

IR 1833 runs 815 km through Suceava, Cluj, Alba Iulia and Cimmeria. Steam IR 1831 covers the distance Timisoara – Iași in 16 hours and 27 minutes.

IR 1763 covers 849 km in 17 hours 21 minutes, and the pair IR 1765 is a minute longer.

Cluj – Galati

The 714 km journey takes 13 hours 23 minutes on IR 1832. The Galaţi – Cluj route takes 13 hours 16 minutes.

Bucharest – Timisoara

Travel times increase, with trains taking from just under 10 hours to 10 hours 35 minutes. Bucharest – Craiova travel time is extremely long (even 3 hours 39 minutes for 209 km IR). The fastest is the Astra train, which goes from Timisoara to the capital in 9 hours and 49 minutes.

Bucharest – Suceava

There are no more trains that cover 447 km in less than six hours, not even an IC train that stops for 12 minutes at Pashkan (to detach a group of carriages to Iași) and another 12 minutes at Bacău (from where the group of carriages detaches to Pyatra-Neamts). The slowest IR train takes 6 hours 38 minutes Suceava – Bucharest.

Bucharest – Iasi

Trains run between 6 hours 11 minutes and 7 hours 7 minutes. Unfortunately, the IC train is not faster because it stops for a long time to disconnect the cars. The fastest IR takes 6 hours 11 minutes between Bucharest and Iași, while the IC train takes 21 minutes longer.

Cluj – Bucharest

There will only be four direct trains a day and they are slow. The IC train takes 8 hours 49 minutes, as the Sighisoara – Brasov road takes more than three hours due to works and restrictions. There is also a train that takes more than 13 hours because it takes a circuitous route with many 40-50 km/h zones (via Simeria – Petrosany – Craiova – Rosiori).

Cluj – Oradea

There will no longer be direct trains between the two cities, as major works are starting between Aleşd and Aguirreş. Regio trains will only run between Oradea and Áles (5 trains per day one way, 35 km, 32-50 minutes) and between Cluj and Aguirres (9 trains one way, 28 km, 40-53 minutes).

Satu Mare – Timisoara

The 311 km journey takes six hours and ten minutes.

Bucharest North – Otopeni Airport

A cadence of 40 minutes is maintained, and trains cover 19 km in 21 minutes on the way out and 25 minutes on the way back.

Bucharest – Sibiu

There will be only three direct trains per day one way, the fastest of which takes 5 hours 21 minutes. The last train from Sibiu to Bucharest departs at 16.22.

Bucharest – Oradea

As there will no longer be a service between Cluj and Oradea, train IR 472 to Budapest will leave a group of carriages in Arad to Oradea and the journey will take 13 hours 14 minutes (via Sibiu – Cimmeria), a total of 720 km.

Another direct train leaves for Oradea in the evening from Bucharest and the journey takes 14 hours 50 minutes, 711 km, via Craiova – Timisoara.

From Oradea to Bucharest direct train IR 1744 will take 14 hours 38 minutes via Timisoara – Craiova. Currently, while Oradea – Cluj is still running, the fastest train takes 12 hours 20 minutes from Oradea to Bucharest (649 km).

Constanta – Mangalia

This is a special line because nine months of the year there are 10 trains per train in each direction, and from June to September, when the seasonal trains (Sun Trains) run, about 20 trains per day. Being a simple, non-electrified line, trains have to wait and some take more than 90 minutes for 43 km.

Bucharest – Arad

The fastest trains take a little more than 10 hours, the slowest – about 12 hours. Speeds between Deva and Arad have increased. Train IC 532 runs between Arad and Bucharest in 10 hours 30 minutes, because the stop in Tejus, where the carriages coming from Cluj are attached, lasts 34 minutes.

Bucharest – Satu Mare

The train IR 1641 travels in 13 hours 36 minutes via Merkurya Chuk – Toplitz – Baia Mare. The return journey takes 14 hours.

Bucharest – Galati

There are four trains a day in each direction, Intercity has also been introduced, the fastest route is 3 hours 36 minutes. The slowest train travels 259 km in 4 hours.

Iasi – Oradea

There is no direct train and this is a route that few people will travel because it shows how few connections there are and how difficult it would be without trains between Cluj and Oradea.

You can get to Iasi-Oradea in 16 hours as soon as possible by changing trains at Dezh and Vala-lui-Mihai stations). From Oradea to Iași is even worse: almost all options indicate more than 20 hours, and the fastest one is 18 and a half hours, with four trains (change in Arad, Ploiesti West and Ploiesti Sud).