Trip to Romania, Bulgaria and Greece - Autumn 2015
General Notes
A trip to participate in the October 2015 PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" tour; flying out out to București and back from Sofia. NOTE: I am missing some of my detailed journey notes for this trip. Photo album here.
Operating Company Abbreviations:
- BDŽ - Bulgarski Darshavni Železnici (Bulgarian National Railways)
- CFR - Compania Naţională de Căi Ferate (Romanian National Railways)
- OSE - Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados - the train operator in Greece.
Track gauge
Standard gauge unless otherwise stated. Standard gauge: 1435 mm; metre gauge: 1000 mm.
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Wednesday 30 September 2015
| Timperley | 05:50 | taxi | ||
| Manchester MAN T1 | 06:05 | 07:55 | 4U 9341 | germanwings A320-200 D-AIUO gate 24; push-back 08:00, take-off 08:10 from runway 05L |
| Dusseldorf DUS | 10:20 | 11:35 | 4U 9792 | landed 10:25 on runway 05L, on stand 10:30 gate V22 / germanwings push-back 11:38, take-off 11:49 from runway 05R |
| Bucharest OTP | 15:05 | landed 15:09 on runway 08R, on stand 15:15 | ||
| Aeroport Otopeni | 17:15 | bus | ||
| P.O. Aeroport H | 17:35 | 17:45 | 13742 | CFR DMU 96-2071? |
| București Nord | 18:38 | 19:45 | IR 1597 | CFR EL 45-0363 |
| Craiova | 22:47 | arr 32 late Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: București Nord - Craiova. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Meliss, Craiova. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes My big bag didn't make the connection at Dusseldorf. I had to get it redelivered to Sofia, picking it up on Friday morning. |
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Thursday 1 October 2015
| Craiova | 08:20 | 481 | CFR DL 82-0140 + 3C dep 12 late | |
| * Golenți | 10:45 | 11:05 | BDŽ DL 55 165 arr 10 late/dep 8 late | |
| * Vidin | 11:25 [2] | 12:15 [2] | BDŽ EL 45 192 arr 13 late; shunt from [2] to [3] | |
| Vidin | 12:23 [3] | 12:05 [3] | BDŽ EL 45 192 + 7C dep 25 late | |
| Via Mezdra (arr 15:48, 30 late / loco run-round / dep 15:30, 38 late) - late crossing train at Elkiseina (arr 16:34/dep 16:45) - single line working to Lakatnik (pass 17:01) | ||||
| Sofia | 17:00 | arr 57 late | ||
| Pl. Tsentralna Gara | 19:47 | '3' | Sofia tram 924 | |
| Pl.Makedonia | 19:58 | |||
| Pl. Sveta Nedelja | 21:21 | '12' | Sofia tram 723 | |
| Pl. Centralna Gara | 21:33 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Craiova - Golenți - Vidin - Brusartzi. | ||||
| Overnight: Sofia Plaza Hotel, Sofia. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes This routing took me via the new bridge and border crossing at Vidin. Tram to and from evening meal in central Sofia. |
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Friday 2 October 2015
| Central Railway Station | 08:20 | '2' | Sofia metro | |
| Serdika | 08:23 | 08:31 | '4' | Sofia metro |
| Konstantin Velichov | 08:35 | 08:40 | '1' | Sofia metro |
| Business Park | 08:58 | 09:00 | '1' | Sofia metro |
| Mladost-1 | 09:06 | 09:10 | '4' | Sofia metro |
| Sofia Airport | 09:22 | 09:49 | '4' | Sofia metro |
| Serdika | 10:16 | 10:18 | '2' | Sofia metro |
| Central Railway Station | 10:22 | |||
| Sofia | 10:35 | 8601 | BDŽ EL 44 179 | |
| Plovdiv | 13:35 | 13:55 | 10247 | BDŽ EMU 30015/16 |
| Parvomay | 14:37 | 14:42 | 10267 | BDŽ DMU 10010/09 |
| Dimitrovgrad | 15:12 | 16:50 | 10268 | BDŽ DMU 10030/29 |
| Parvomay | 17:22 | 17:30 | ? | BDŽ EMU ? |
| Plovdiv | 18:11 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Leipzig, Plovdiv. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes A change of plans today to allow me to collect my delayed luggage from Sofia airport! It's handy that the metro to the airport opened in April 2015, and I was also able to travel the full length of line 1. Ploivdiv - Parvomay - Dimitrovgrad had only recently re-opened after long term engineering works. |
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Saturday 3 October 2015
| Plovdiv | 07:58 | 8640 | BDŽ EL 44 144 | |
| Sofia | 11:02 | 12:20 | 3683 | arr 14 late / BDŽ EL 44 126 |
| Pirdop | 13:43 | 14:52 | 3682 | BDŽ EL 44 126 |
| Sofia | 16:20 | 17:00 | 5611 | BDŽ EL 44 085 |
| Pernik-Razpredelitelna | 17:41 | 17:58 | 60204 | BDŽ EMU 30027/28 via Razmenna |
| Sofia | 19:28 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Ramada Sofia. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes A trip out to see if there was any class 87 action at Pirdop, and a run out to Pernik which is always interesting. |
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Sunday 4 October 2015
| Sofia | 07:20 | MBV 7669 | BDŽ DL 07 124 PTG charter train | |
| Via Gorna Banya 07:37/07:43 - Vladaya 07:58/08:02 - Pernik 08:18/08:27 - Blagoevgrad 09:54/10:19 | ||||
| Kulata | 11:45 | 12:35 | 7669 | OSE DL A456 PTG charter train |
| Via Promachon 12:40 - Strimon 12:55/3:10 | ||||
| Thessaloníki | 14:48 | 16:39 | 7747 | OSE DL 220 025 top-n-tail OSE DL A456 PTG charter train |
| Via Axios 16:57/17:03 (reverse) | ||||
| Ghefira | 17:11 | 17:29 | 7748 | OSE DL A456 top-n-tail OSE DL 220 025 PTG charter train |
| Via Axios 17:37/17:43 (reverse) | ||||
| Thessaloníki | 18:01 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Axios - Ghefira. | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Capsis, Thessaloníki. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes Day 1 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour. |
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Monday 5 October 2015
| Thessaloniki | 10:58 | 7597 | OSE DL A470 PTG charter train | |
| Via Plati 11:26 - Katerini 11:56 | ||||
| Larissa | 12:49 | 13:15 | 7588 | OSE DL A470 PTG charter train (run-round) dep 25 late |
| Velestino | 13:46 | |||
| Velestino | 14:30 | DL 3 (Former OSE; Nippon Sharyo No.2921, 1971) PTG charter train metre gauge | ||
| Aerinon | 15:10 | 15:35 | DL 3 PTG charter train metre gauge | |
| Velestino | 16:15 | visit to museum site | ||
| Velestino | 17:45 | OSE DL A470 PTG charter train | ||
| Vólos | 18:00 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Velestino - Aerionon. | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Volos Palace, Vólos. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes Day 2 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour; including a visit to the metre gauge preservation site at Valestino, on the original route between Paleofarcelos and Vólos. |
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Tuesday 6 October 2015
| Hotel Volos Palace | ? | PTG bus | ||
| Ano Lechonia | ? | 08:00 | 7802 | OSE DL DA1 PTG charter train 600 mm gauge |
| Via Gatzea 08:35/08:45 | ||||
| Milies | 09:30 | 11:00 | 7803 | OSE DL DA1 PTG charter train 600 mm gauge |
| Ano Lechonia | 12:30 | PTG bus | ||
| Vólos | 13:30 | 7519 | OSE DL A466 PTG charter train | |
| Via Velestino 13:46 - Larissa 14:18/15:00 - Paleofarcelos 15:26 - Domokos 15:34/15:42 - Lianokladi 16:40/16:42 - Tithorea 17:27 - Inoi 18:15 | ||||
| Athína | 19:05 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Ano Lechonia - Milies. | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Oscar, Athína; two nights. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes Day 3 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour. |
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Wednesday 7 October 2015
| Athína | 07:59 | OSE DMU 621 set 9 | ||
| Ano Liosia | 08:14 | 08:28 | OSE EMU 460 set 18 | |
| Neratziotissa | 08:38 | 08:52 | OSE EMU 460 set 10 | |
| Ano Liosia | 09:05 | 09:30 | OSE DMU 621 set 9 | |
| Athína | 09:44 | 09:53 | OSE DMU 560 sets 14+15 | |
| Piraeus | 10:11 | 10:25 | OSE DMU 560 sets 15+14 | |
| Athína | 10:44 | 11:31 | 7102/3 | OSE DL A326 top-n-tail A302 PTG charter train |
| Airport | 12:05 | 12:37 | 7104/5 | OSE DL A302 top-n-tail A326 PTG charter train shunt beyond station to buffer stops |
| Athína | 13:11 | 14:00 | ? | OSE DL A302 top-n-tail A326 PTG charter train |
| Rentis | 14:20 | 15:11 | ? | OSE DMU 560 sets 6+13 |
| Lefka | 15:14 | 15:30 | ? | OSE DMU 560 sets 13+6 |
| Athína | 15:45 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: SKA south to west curve. | ||||
| New non-passenger track today: SKA south to east curve. | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Oscar, Athína. | ||||
| Notes Day 4 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour. Before the tour some of us took a local suburban service train from Athína to Ano Liosia and back, to cover the south to west curve at SKA that had recently regained a passenger service. |
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Thursday 8 October 2015
| Athína | 05:17 | 7886 | OSE DL A451 PTG charter train | |
| Via Inoi 06:04/06:05 - Tithorea 07:09 - Lilea 07:18/07:24 | ||||
| Lianokladi | 07:57 | 08:15 | 4526 | OSE DL A223 top-n-tail OSE DL A451 PTG charter train |
| Stylis | 08:48 | 08:57 | 4527 | OSE DL A451 top-n-tail OSE DL A223 PTG charter train |
| Lianokladi | 09:29 | 10:06 | 7886 | OSE DL A451 PTG charter train |
| Via Domokos 11:06/11:07 | ||||
| Paleofarcelos | 11:17 | 11:20 | OSE DL A451 PTG charter train | |
| Kalambaka | 12:14 | ? | PTG bus to visit Kalambaka monasteries. | |
| Kalambaka | ? | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Paleofarcelos - Kalambaka. | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Kosta Famissi, Kalambaka. PTG bus from/to station. | ||||
| Notes Day 5 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour. |
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Friday 9 October 2015
| Kalambaka | 09:15 | 7889 | OSE DL A451 PTG charter train | |
| Via Paleofarcelos 10:13/10:30 (reverse) | ||||
| Larissa | 10:57 | 11:42 | 7598 | OSE DL A451 PTG charter train |
| Thessaloniki | 13:34 | 14:00 | 7668 | OSE DL A504 PTG charter train |
| Via Strimon 15:36/15:50 - Promachon 16:05 | ||||
| Kulata | 16:10 | 16:35 | MBV 7668 | BDŽ DL 07 032 PTG charter train |
| Via Simitli 17:38/17:46 - Radomir 19:13/19:18 - Hrabursko 20:14 - Brigadir 20:34 - Voluyak 20:42 | ||||
| Sofia | 20:50 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: | ||||
| Overnight (PTG): Hotel Ramada Sofia. Short walk from the railway station. | ||||
| Notes Day 6 of the PTG "Rail Wonders of Southern Greece" railtour. |
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Saturday 10 October 2015
| Central Railway Station | ? | '2' | Sofia metro | |
| Serdika | ? | ? | '4' | Sofia metro |
| Sofia Airport (SOF) | ? | 13:10 | EZY 1934 | Easyjet |
| Manchester Airport (MAN) | 14:35 | ? | ||
| Timperley | ? | |||
| Notes Simple journey home. |
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Summary: a good trip away, with most things going to plan. Tickets used: 1 to 3 October: three-day second class InterRail for Bulgaria; otherwise, single tickets as required. |