The fastest trains in Romania reach 160 km/h, but the slowest have long stretches of 20-25 km/h, like in 1890. Where are the trains that you can overtake from a bicycle? Why am I so “lazy”? What do you see out the window when you travel these routes? Where are these lines “frozen” in time?

Brief information:

• On short secondary lines, trains that stop at all stations move at an average speed of 35-40 km/h, and the stops are on average 4-5 km apart. However, there are much slower lines, with average speeds below 30 km/h even over distances of over 100 km.

• There are some trains that also run at an average speed below 20 km/h due to the fact that the lines are in extremely poor condition and also because Regio trains have long stops. Among the slowest routes in the country: Timisoara – Sannicola Mare, Sfantu Gheorghe – Bresku, Bistrica – Ludus and Sighisoara – Odorhei.

• If you look out the window while traveling on such a “snail”, you will see many destroyed stations, garbage and rust on almost everything related to railway structures. At every kilometer it is clear that not a single wave of modernization has “passed” for many decades.

• In the last 35 years, more than 40 secondary railway lines have been closed, including routes such as Cimmeria – Hunedoara or Ploiesti – Tirgovishte (where there is only one train a day, so almost zero).

• There are tens of thousands of people who travel by train every day, but the serious thing is that on many lines the speed is below 30 km/h, because a 40 km journey ends up taking 80 minutes by train, so the car becomes much more attractive

• Journeys are long due to speed limits because some lines have not been upgraded for decades. Because there are long stretches with one line. not electrified, trains stop to wait at some stations and sometimes stop for more than 15 minutes,

• A big problem for many secondary lines is the low frequency of trains: in many cases there are 3-4 trains per day, compared to 7-8 trains per day in the 80s and 90s.

• Some lines fell due to the negligence of the authorities, others due to the route mafia, and still others “gone to the wind” because there was no more industry in the small towns of the province, where there used to be personal trains with more than 10 cars. .

• Most of the ultra-slow lines are in Banat, where the network was built mainly by the Austrians more than 150 years ago. Very old vehicles of some private operators run on these lines.

• As a result of the lack of investment, many lines have sections with such damaged lines and problematic tracks that speeds can be below 10 km/h. Even if you also have normal sections, at a speed of 50 km/h, the time increases tremendously because of sections with big problems.

• If the attitude of the Romanian state towards the railways does not change, that is, if serious investments are not made in the near future, then in a few years there will be no more trains (and no passengers) on some of the lines described below.

• Useful information for those who want to travel between Cluj and Oradea (where there are train stations) is that a small number of trains have been replaced by buses. There are five buses each way, taking 4 hours 25 minutes for 150 km. Buses leased by private companies Transferoviar and Interregional are running, while CFR Călători buses have not started running.

Lines with the lowest speeds

Timisoara – Sannicola Mare 63 km, average speed from 18 to 25 km/h

Trains run from 2 hours 49 minutes to 3 hours 33 minutes on the Banat line. In the 90s, the average speed exceeded 40 km/h.

It is sad that in 1929 the fastest train traveled 63 km in 2 hours and 14 minutes…

Train 11187 Regio Călători departs at 16:17 from Timisoara and arrives in Sannicola Mare at 19:50. The train stops in Bilida for 38 minutes.

• How to drive on main railway lines and how much speeds have decreased compared to the 80s and 90s

Until October 2023, when traffic was closed, trains ran from Sannicola Mare to Chenad on the slowest section of railway in the country, as it took 40 minutes to cover 12 km, which translates to a speed of 18 km/h.

95 years ago, trains traveled 12 km in 23-25 ​​minutes.

Bistrița Nord – Bistrița Bârgăului, 29 km, average speed from 18 to 23 km/h

Usually the train takes 75 minutes, but there is also a train that takes 1 hour 39 minutes.

Train 10625 departs at 16.10 from Bistrita Bârgăului HCV and arrives at 17.49 at Bistrița Nord. The average speed of this train is 17.5 km/h.

• The story of a man who traveled 55,000 km by train across the country for pleasure and filmed almost everything: I would not recommend anyone to travel that long by train in Romania

Line 406 wasn’t always so slow. In 1995, there were also trains that took 62 minutes for 29 km. Not much faster, but definitely faster.

Sfântu Gheorghe – Brețcu, 72 km, average speed from 20 to 25 km/h

Trains run from 2 hours 49 minutes to 3 hours 40 minutes.

By car, the distance is 52 km, and the journey takes less than an hour.

95 years ago the fastest train was 2 hours 42 minutes, so now the journey is like time travel, at least in the “lack of speed” section, hinting that in both documents and locomotives a century ago it was not going at speed, but at “maximals”.

• Why the train loses the “battle” of the car in Romania – From snail’s pace to dirty toilets

Train 11365 departs from Brasov at 15:46 and arrives in Brescia at 20:12, covering 98 km in 4 hours and 16 minutes. It stops at 53 minutes at Tg Secuiesc and at 10 minutes at Sf Gheorghe.

Line 404 was never fast, averaging no more than 42 km/h (in 1980). In 1995, the fastest train took 2 and a half hours.

Sighisoara – Odorhei, 48 km, average speed from 24 km/h to 29 km/h

Trains run from one hour and 38 minutes to two hours and two minutes.

The slowest is train 3543, which departs from Odorhei at 7.40 and arrives in Sighisoara at 9.42. It takes 17 minutes to Albești Târnava and 9 minutes to Vânători because you have to wait for other long-distance trains from highway 300, which is undergoing significant works (Brasov – Sighisoara).

In 1989, the fastest train in Transylvania ran on this line, taking one hour and 14 minutes, significantly less than in 2024.

Salva – Sziget Marmaciei, 119 km, average speed 30-33 km/h.

Trains run anywhere from 3 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours 4 minutes.

It is one of the most beautiful railway routes in the country, but the speed, which was never high, is decreasing and most trains have an average speed of less than 33 km/h.

• How to travel on secondary lines – the average speed is 35-40 km/h, on very few sections there are more than 7-8 trains per direction

Train 4116 departs Sziget-Marmaciei at 16:00 and arrives Beclean on Someş at 20:46. The total distance is 140 km, and the average speed is 29 km/h. There is also a long stop, 20 minutes, at Dealu Ștefăniței.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the 409 also had two expressways, but they were also limited to 40 km/h. There were also direct trains to Timisoara. In the 80s, the fastest trains were running, which could travel in less than three hours.

Brasov – Sighisoara, 128 km, average speed 30-42 km/h

Complex works are being carried out that will last for many years, the route will also be changed, and long tunnels will be built. At 128 km, the slowest train travels in 4 hours and 12 minutes, that is, with an average speed of 31 km/h. Train 3536 departs from Sighisoara at 15:44 and arrives in Brasov at 19:56. The train has several longer stops to miss other long-distance trains, as these are extended sections of the same line.

And non-stop trains run for more than three hours, i.e. at an average speed of 42 km/h. When the robots are ready, the average speed should also be 100 km/h. There are also delays because trains are waiting for each other at several stations along the way: Augustin, Racoș, Rupea, Cața, Vânători or Albești.

In the 80s and 90s, the fastest trains took less than 100 minutes, and private trains took less than 2 hours 40 minutes. The difference is huge.

Blaj – Bălăuşeri, 71 km, average speed from 23 to 27 km/h

Trains run from 2 hours 47 minutes to 3 hours 8 minutes

Train 11322 departs at 17.37 from Bălăuşeri and arrives at 20.45 in Blaj. In Târnăveni there is a stop of 21 minutes.

It was never a fast line, and the speed is what it was a few decades ago.

Luduș – Magheruș Șieu, 94 km, average speed from 26 to 33 km/h

Trains run between 2 hours 46 minutes and 3 hours 38 minutes.

The terribly slow train departs at 15.49 from Bistrita Nord and arrives at 19.47 in Luduș. For 110 km, the average speed is 27 km/h. Sărmasel has a long stop of 25 minutes. Fast trains have never run on this connection on line 406,

Timisoara – Lugozh, via Buziash, 65 km, average speed 31-42 km/h.

Trains run from one hour 32 minutes to two hours 7 minutes

Train 9613 departs from Lugoz at 6.58 and arrives in Timisoara at 9.05.

Lu Buziaș is 8 minutes away and Sacoșu Mic is 14 minutes away.

Voiteni – Reșita Nord, 61 km, average speed from 28 km/h to 32 km/h

Trains run between one hour and 53 minutes and two hours and 10 minutes.

Train 11101 departs at 3:27 am from Timisoara and arrives at 6:16 am in Reșita Nord, covering 95 km in almost three hours, with a long stop at Gătaia (15 minutes).

In the 90s, there was also an accelerated train that traveled for about an hour and 40 minutes.

Petroshany – Simeria, 80 km, average speed 29-41 km/h

Line 202 Filiași – Tg Jiu – Petroşani – Simeria is 201 km long and is a railway that connects highways 900 and 200, famous in the history of the national railway for the Bumbeşti – Livezeni section, completed a few years after the Second World War and left in history by as it featured heavily in communist propaganda through “volunteer youth brigades” and the phrase “echo of the valley”.

Between Petroshani and Simeria, a distance of 80 km, trains take from one hour 57 minutes to two hours 47 minutes. The fastest trains ran in the 1980s: fast ones traveled in one and a half hours.

Very slow are the Regio trains, which have 26 intermediate stops and cover 80 km at an average speed of 29 km/h. With three intermediate stops, the average speed is 41 km/h.

Very slow long-distance trains – less than 50 km/h from one end of the country to the other

A big problem with trains in Romania is that they cross the country from one side to the other at an average speed of less than 50 km/h.

IR 1835 Bucharest – Cluj 621 km takes 14 hours and 2 minutes. It runs through areas with many restrictions, on Highway 100 towards Craiova and on Route 202 in the Petrosani area. A 58-minute stop in Teiuș is also planned.

IR 1833 Iasi – Timisoara it covers 17 hours and two minutes for 815 km at an average speed of 48 km/h. Not only are there many sections below 45 km/h, but there are also three long stops with a total duration of 46 minutes in Suceava, Cluj and Cimmeria.

IR 78 Bucharest – Oradea, 14 hours 50 minutes for 711 km

The average speed is 48 km/h due to the numerous restrictions on highway 100 and also because there are restrictions between Timisoara and Arad. The train stops frequently: 15 minutes in Caransebes, 13 minutes in Chisinau-Kris and 25 minutes in Arad (where the carriages for Budapest are located).

IR 1823 Bucharest – Deva, through Kraiova – Petroshany, 10 hours 17 minutes for 463 km, average speed 45 km/h. The train travels 209 km to Craiova in 4 hours (another time it was a high-speed line, with an average of 90-100 km/h). The 130 km between Tirgu Jiu and Cimmeria takes more than 3 and a half hours.

Trains of the Sun

From June 10 to September 15 (or with slight changes in dates), Soarelui trains will run to Constanta (and in some cases to Mangalia). The longest routes are 950 km, and the travel time is more than 19 hours. The average speed is around 48-52 km/h for trains traveling on slow sections such as the Bucharest-Timişoara highway or the Podu Olt-Piatra Olt or Simeria-Filiaşi lines.