I am taking the train in Romania from Timisoara to Sibiu and then from Sibiu to Cluj/Napoca. Both are day trains and require a tight connections. The train from Timisoara to Sibiu has a 15 minute connection in a town called Arad. I leave on train IR 3115 from Timisoara to Arad and arrive at 2.19pm. I then connect to train IR75 leaving Arad at 2.34pm. I am leaving Sibiu on train R2443 and arriving into Vistu at 5.45pm. I then connect onto IR75 leaving Vistu at 6.04pm. I am wondering if anybody has done this trip before either in general or on these specific trains and what is the likelihood of delays/missed connections and what my contingency plans might be? I'm in half my mind to simply take a taxi from Timisoara to Arad and from Sibiu to Vistu to catch my connecting trains. Is this also a possibility? It would be so sad if I just took a bus between these towns because I really love train travel.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
21709 posts
In the huge generality of things, 15 minutes should be enough time if you are prepared prior to your stop. That having been said, anything that gives me stress, reasonable or not, during my holiday I find a different way.
Posted by
Wengen
2796 posts
15 minutes is not a tight connection, that is a rather generous time to change trains. This is train travel, not air travel. A good railway does not waste the public's time with long waits.
And often on such connections trains wait for each other. So do not worry to much. The moment you have a ticket the railway must transport your destination.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9017 posts
The real question is how good are Romanian Railways specifically at on time running and holding connections?
In the first instance there is no alternative same day connection, so surely they will hold.
In the second instance if the connection was missed at Vistu you could stay on R2443 to Razboieni, arriving at 1949, and leaving at 2040 on R3091 at 2040, arriving at Cluj at 2208, or on D12767 at 2133.