Trains from Once Upon a Time for Rental

The Romanian and foreign tourists which want to travel on different routes in Romania with one of these old trains could study the offer launched yesterday by the Railway Tourism Society. "The railway tourism, for the ones which appreciate the time patina, is already very popular in the rest of Europe. The offer targets all the Romanian and foreign tour-operators, the prices for renting such a train are from 10 to 30 euros per km, dependant on the train", stated the Minister of Transport, Constructions and Tourism, Miron Mitrea. He believes that the trips with these trains attract the tourists because "a trip with the trains pulled by a steam engine will carry us through the story of this country, and in the special places of Romania, too".

THREE TRAINS. The programme includes, for now, three trains (Calugareni, Moldovita, and the Royal Train), which have been refurbished and modernized. Calugareni, which has three passenger coaches, of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class and a total capacity of 68 seats, has been used between 1869 and 1918, on the railway route Bucharest - Giurgiu, the first railway in the United Principalities. Moldovita has four coaches, from which one is a ball-room coach, two of 1st and 2nd class (with 51 seats) and a mail coach. Its coaches have been used at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century on the railway route between Moldova and Bucovina. The Royal Train, which has been brought in Romanian at the end of the twenties, has been initially used by the King Carol II and has 5 coaches of ball-room and sleeping type.

ANY ROUTE. The offer of the Railway Tourism Society is already presented in the most important catalogue for the railway tourism in Germany, the tourists from this country being very interested in this kind of trips. The trains, pulled by refurbished steam engines, can travel on any of the normal railways of Romania. So, each tour-operator can propose the route to sell to the tourist and include this offer in the next year’s catalogue.