Has there ever been Paris/ Brussels to Prague /Budapest sleepers?
In the UK there is very little tax on the fuel for trains - isn't that the same in the rest of Europe, OOI?
Budapest was on the "traditional" Orient Express route. My Feb 1980 Cooks shows it having sleepers 4 nights out of 7 (not shown in the draft summer service).
There was an overnight Paris-Prague service (via Nuremberg-Schirnding-Cheb) with couchettes not sleepers. Paris-Saarbruecken-Frankfurt-Dresden-Prague became part of the German EC/IC network in the 90's but succumbed to the ICE. I don't recall if there was a night train as well as a day train that way.
I don't think there have been through services Brussels-Prague, and the nearest service to Budapest I can find is the Oostende-Wien express with a through coach Frankfurt-Budapest!
From 1945-89 international travel to both destinations was a little difficult.
Chisinau-Bucharest is good - a proper Soviet style experience - and some of the guards do seem to think the USSR is still going.
Go to Transnistria and it still does, we got met off the train by a KGB Officer with hammer and sickle emblem and escorted, politely but firmly, to the immigration office.
Served by a Chisinau to Moscova sleeper, but not a regular service as best I could tell. I caught the day train from Odesa.
Thanks . What about Norway , Sweden and Denmark? I think Malmo had a sleeper to Germany .
Done Transnistria by bus from Chisinau, and while the border was a bit slow, scruffy and bureaucratic it wasn't an overly Soviet experience. Interesting.
Tiraspol feels positively latter-day-Soviet, though - barely anything to do there as nobody has any money!
Cool, have you any pics online, would be interested to see.
It was amazing how quiet Tiraspol and Benderey were, infinitely more than Chisinau. Felt very big and empty.
Afraid not, we were advised (I forget where) that photography in Transnistria was ill-advised.
Chisinau-Bucharest is good - a proper Soviet style experience - and some of the guards do seem to think the USSR is still going.
Cool, have you any pics online, would be interested to see.
It was amazing how quiet Tiraspol and Benderey were, infinitely more than Chisinau. Felt very big and empty.
I understand the road borders have been 'cleaned up' a lot in the last year or two. On the way out we used a smaller road crossing, our driver handed over our passports along with the entry forms through a checkpoint window, 30 seconds later passports were back and we were on our way.
Yes, Passau is on one of the main refugee routes. Checks are expected to continue at least until Febuary, most likely extended beyond that.
Did you get a Passport Stamp?
Whilst mentioning passports I was very surprised a couple of weeks ago to be woken up at 00h30 at Passau (Austrian -German border) by a German Border Guard demanding 'Passporten' (very loudly) (We were travelling Vienna-Frankfurt). The guard had no sense of humour. Apparently these checks are regular now.
No, they stamp a form you get given, but not the passport. I wanted to ask them to stamp the passport but our guide explained it would be illegal (not sure for whom?!)
Perhaps because they are not an internationally recognised border crossing?
We were quite fortunate - going Chisinau to Bucharesti, the passport checks are about 10-11pm. Going Eastbound, they are about 4am. Although given you will have been shunted around a lot at the gauge changing site, I imagine most people would be awake anyway.
Whilst mentioning passports I was very surprised a couple of weeks ago to be woken up at 00h30 at Passau (Austrian -German border) by a German Border Guard demanding 'Passporten' (very loudly) (We were travelling Vienna-Frankfurt). The guard had no sense of humour. Apparently these checks are regular now.
Maybe as its not recognised internationally , doubt the stampwould cause problems.
Ive got a Kosovo stamp in my passport and i got into Serbia no bother.
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Was that just after Salzburg?
Was that just after Salzburg?
I was on Zagreb - Munich sleeper last year and were checked . Passports werent actually checked , the compartment door was just opened and the policeman had a look .
ISTR the seasonal Malmo-Berlin service ran for the last time in August - changes to the ferry timetable were the last straw!).
Meanwhile the heavily used 15 coach daily CityNightLine to Amsterdam is about to be axed as uneceonomic! Someone at ScandLines must really have a soft spot for the service.
considering the former Schweiz Express Amsterdam-Basel had up to 16 coaches and was very busy only 15 years ago, the decline is shocking.
I assume night trains dont fit into NS's concept of 15 min intervals on major routes.