In serious countries, Intercity (IC) trains are the most comfortable and fastest on the network, with a restaurant car, working WiFi and clean toilets. IC trains were restored in Romania a year ago and now a few more have been added, but they are not only more expensive than other trains, but also stop frequently because everything was not well thought out and CFR Călători does not have enough cars. Added to this is the recent increase in ticket prices.

Low quality Intercity trains in Romania

When you say “Intercity”, you think of a “flagship” train, prestigious, with the highest conditions. In Romania, Intercity means a train with expensive tickets, with A4 sheets stuck to the window indicating the destination, and with carriages that have been used for many years by InterRegio trains (and should have remained so).

Intercity trains, which are running now and will continue to run in 2024, are not fast and direct, but split into segments with different destinations on the way, and these splits continue both on the way there and back. 20 years ago, when Romania had much newer and faster IC trains, they stopped at stations for 2-3 minutes and could travel 300 km without stopping and without disconnecting groups of cars. They were very fast.

• How will Romanian trains run in 2024 and what are the news on the railways

In 2002, a record was set: the Romanian train that traveled the longest distance without stopping: 460 km, international train EN 371, from Arad to Brasov. Then the journey lasted 6 hours and 11 minutes, in 2023 it will take 8 hours and 8 minutes with three stops. The difference is very big.

For example, the Intercity train IC 531 Avram Iancu runs 225 km non-stop between Brasov and Tejus, but due to restrictions and construction sites to Sighisoara, the distance travels at an average of 53 km/h and the journey takes 4 hours 14 minutes.

A ticket for IC trains costs 15% more than IR and the prices are not cheap, especially since a ten percent price increase was applied a few days ago, the price increase was applied according to the provisions of the law, but without informing the passengers in advance.

When IC trains are “deployed” on the road, travel time increases and increases…

A Bucharest – Arad ticket costs 165 lei, and a Brasov – Constanta ticket costs 120 lei. The IC 536 train takes 4 hours 38 minutes from Constanta to Brasov at an average speed of 84 km/h. This is the only route where the IC status is justified, especially considering that on Bucharest – Cluj the average IC speed is only 57 km/h.

Prices are very high for short distances: Bucharest – Ploiesti 27.5 lei for 2nd class and 39 lei for 1st class.

• Romanians and Intercity trains are a story that started well, but then stopped. IC trains are back, but how low speed compared to the glory years?

At the end of the article, you can read about each SC separately: how much it costs, the length of the route, and how much the ticket costs.

Since December, IC trains have been 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.

These trains depart from Bucharest, but at some stations along the way the carriages are detached and sometimes remain there for a long time. For example, train IC 551 to Moldova departs from Bucharest at 17.25 and splits into three at Bacău. One branch goes to Suceava, one to Iasi, and the other to Suceava. Travelers heading to Piatra Neamts spend 23 minutes in carriages in Bacau.

When the InterCity trains appeared, we did not practice such “layering” of the train on the way, but separate trains went to each terminal station, so the journey was shorter.

On the return journey, a passenger who buys a ticket at IC Piatra Neamț – Bucharest will wait 36 ​​minutes in Bacău, because the train also receives carriages from Iași, but also from Suceava, and “full stock” continues to Bucharest.

And the small town of Teyush in Transylvania is a long stop. Train IC 531 leaves Bucharest at 13:30 and arrives in Tejus in six and a half hours. There, part of the train continues its journey to Cluj, and part of the wagons joins other locomotives to the destination of Arad. For passengers bound for Arad, the waiting time in Tejus is 22 minutes, while a group of carriages to Cluj waits only 10 minutes.

It’s even worse on the way back because the parking time in Teiuș is 34 minutes for a passenger coming from Arad, Deva or Alba Iulia. It’s no wonder that on the newly modernized line, the train has zones where it speeds up to 140 km/h, if it then stops “God forbid” at Teyusha.

A traveler traveling by Intercity train from Piatra Neamt to Bucharest will spend almost six hours, of which 40 minutes, i.e. more than 10% of the travel time, will be standing in the parking lot. It would be normal if the stops were for a maximum of 10 minutes. For a few years after 2000 there were IC trains between Piatra Neamt and Bacău, but then the speed was much better.

The Intercity journey from Arad to northern Bucharest takes 10 and a half hours, of which 45 minutes are scheduled stops. It was normal that, being an Intercity train, the total duration of stops did not exceed 15 minutes.

IC trains are slightly faster on the Bucharest – Galaţi route and take approximately 3 hours 36 minutes for the 259 km.

In Romania, there were no serious reasons to return InterCity trains

We do not have modern infrastructure and no new carriages to have IC trains like in the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary. In addition, ticket prices increased by 20% in July 2022 and by 10% in December 2023. CFR Călători does not even have restaurant cars to offer services like in civilized railway Europe.

It is worth introducing IC trains after you have upgraded thousands of kilometers of track and bought new cars, locomotives and long-distance electric frames.

At the end of 2014, the Intercity trains were withdrawn from service, as it was no longer possible to ensure the mandatory minimum speed of 60 km/h required for a train of this rank.

In 2015, the journey from Bucharest to Timisoara took almost nine hours, which is huge compared to the 6 and a half hours of the first IC trains. The road from Bucharest to Suceava took about 7 hours, compared to less than five hours 20 years ago.

In December 2019, one of the fastest long-distance high-speed trains in the country, Tomis Express – Brasov – Constanta, was launched, which traveled 392 km in 4 and a half hours. It was presented by CFR Călători as an IC train but with an IR tariff. From December 2022, Tomis Express, together with other ICs, became Intercity.

How much is an IC ticket, how long is the journey and what is the average speed (Train schedule 2023-2024)

• Bucharest – Arad, 165 lei, 10 hours 17 minutes, 61 km/h
• Bucharest – Suceava, 136 lei, 6 hours 32 minutes, 74 km/h
• Bucharest – Iasi, 136 lei, 6 hours, 71 km/h
• Bucharest – Cluj, 136 lei, 8 hours 40 minutes, 57 km/h
• Bucharest – Constanta, 89 lei, 2 hours 7 minutes, 107 km/h
• Bucharest – Brasov, 73 lei, 2 hours 13 minutes, 75 km/h
• Bucharest – Galati, 99 lei, 3 hours 37 minutes, 72 km/h
• Bucharest – Piatra Neamț, 119 lei, 5 hours 32 minutes, 64 km/h

In 1995 and 1996, the fastest IC and E trains ran. Some even ran over 300 km non-stop on distances such as Bucharest to Bacău. The night express did not stop during the 366 km between Brasov and Dej. The maximum speed was 140 km/h.