New link from Bucharest Airport to rail network
TRAVELLERS to Romania will discover a new rail link to Henri Coandă International Airport once Europe reopens fully.
The new 5km long branch, which opened in December, heads north-east from the existing Bucharest to Urziceni/ Făurei line at Odăile.
National operator CFR runs 30 train pairs a day connecting Bucharest’s main Gara Nord station with the airport using 'Desiro' DMUs, while private operator Transferoviar Călători (TFC) provides six train pairs a day. The 19km journey takes 20 minutes even with two stops (around half the time by road) and both operators charge 5
RON (£1) each way.
TFC operates a variety of DMUs including ex-French Railways SNCF Class X72500 DMUs. In June TFC bought 12 two-car
Class 643 ‘Talent’ DMUs from German TOC Regiobahn which had used them to operate route S28 ‘S-Bahn services from Kaarster See to Mettman (via Duesseldorf ). Regiobahn is now using the unique Jenbacher Werke built ‘Integral’ DMU fleet previously used south of Munich. Thanks to Adrian Stevenson for some of this information.