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Bulgarian Railways Launch Sofia-Bankya Retro Train



he Bulgarian State railway company BDZ starts Monday running a retro steam engine train between the capital Sofia and the suburb of Bankya.

The train would leave at 12:10 pm every day from 20 days from Sofia's Central Railroad Station.

The engine has been used for a number of movies and entertainment trips. In September 1989 it had served the famous "
Orient Express"
while the latter was passing through Bulgaria.

The engine has been made in 1953 in Switzerland.

How exciting this brings back memories, the good old steam engines, worked for British Rail when I first left school in 1958, and travelled to work each day by steam train.

This brings back memories for me too, I used to go to Waterloo in the late 1950's on a steam train every working day, good fun.

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Bulgaria to Boost Its Retro Train Tourism

Bulgaria considers developing further its options for retro train tourism, the country's transport minister, Alexander Tsvetkov said Monday.

Among the attractive and luxurious old trains the company will offer the tourists are those oncer used by former Bulgarian Tzar Boris III and communist dictator Todor Zhivkov. There has been a considerable interest in the country's retro train tours and the Bulgarian State railway company (BDZ) expects to double their number in 2011, Tsvetkov stated.

The state company has earned some BGN 60 000 in 2010 from retro train tourism, the Minister pointed out, adding it plans to make 2.5 times as much in 2011.

'Not many countries in Europe provide such a tourist attraction,' Tsvetkov said, stating there will be a considerable interest on behalf of foreign tourists.

At the end of March, BDZ started running a retro steam engine train between the capital Sofia and the suburb of Bankya. The train leaves at 12:10 pm every day for 20 days from Sofia's Central Rail road Station and entertains the passengers for the normal price of the destination. After these 20 days, the price of the tickets will increase to BGN 5.

The trains engine has been used for a number of movies and entertainment trips. In September 1989 it had served the famous "
Orient Express"
while the latter was passing through Bulgaria.The engine has been made in 1953 in Switzerland.

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Attraction tours with the Bulgarian State Railways



Those who want to immerse themselves in 20th century and feel what it is like to be a character in an old movie can set out on a journey with a somewhat unusual for the times vehicle: a steam locomotive. The attraction is offered by the Bulgarian State Railways, which has recently announced an ambitious programme for the development of railway tourism in Bulgaria. Having been restored, the cars of the retro train offer romance and comfort, as well as a one-time opportunity to know better some of Bulgaria’s wildest nooks.



The luxury once experienced by kings and party leaders on their trips across Bulgaria is now available to everyone, with ticket prices being quite reasonable. So for example, if you want to go to Bankia, which is some 30km away from Sofia, on the train of Bulgaria’s former totalitarian leader Todor Zhivkov, you will pay around 2.5 e. The cars have got a dining room, a spacious conference hall, a luxury en suite apartment, as well as separate cozy cars furnished with armchairs, tables, sinks, etc. The steam locomotive of Mr Zhivkov was produced by the Swiss factory SLM Winterhur in the remote 1935, being one of the most mass-produced fast locomotives of 20th century. Ever since the train was restored some 8 years ago. it has been used for attraction tours and various film productions.
If you would rather explore Bulgaria’s scenery on an antique and comfortable vehicle without demanding much luxury and VIP service, then you could try out the narrow gauge line starting at the town of Septemvri in Southern Bulgaria and ending up at the village of Dobrinishte at the foot of the Pirin Mountain. The vehicle passes by extremely picturesque places, moving along the only operating narrow gauge railway in Bulgaria and being very popular among foreign tourists. Here is more from Bulgaria’s Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov.

“If someone wants to feel like a king while traveling, he or she can do it with the Bulgarian State Railways. These retro compositions will include the so-called king car with all the luxury it offers, as well as other retro cars that will move along different directions. In reality, very few trains in Europe offer locomotive tours. Therefore, we expect a lot of interest from abroad”, Mr. Tsvetkov commented.



The retro trains are to travel along several tracks across Bulgaria. One of them will connect Sofia to Plovdiv, which is a most visited city by foreigners. The Sofia-Burgas railway track will cross longwise the country serving some of the holidaymakers on the Black sea. At the moment people are showing the greatest interest in the locomotive connecting Sofia and Bankia, which was set into operation last week. Every day the retro train transports some 1000 people, mostly residents of the capital, who are eager to try out the new attraction. There are also a lot of foreigners who want to ride on the steamed locomotive. The management of the Bulgarian State Railways has stuck deals with several leading travel agencies. Since early 2011 the unconventional cars carry a lot of British, Australians, French and Germans.

Will definately have to take the kids to try it out when were in Sofia in July. How exciting. I can't wait.

looks fab! Just like the steam engine we have here in Ferry Meadows. Where is scot47 when you need him, he is into trains in a big way. Maybe he missed this one so I had better tell him .

Oddy

Legendary 'Orient Express' Pulls Off in Bulgaria’s Ruse

The "
Orient Express"
train, famously described in Agatha Christie's novel "
Murder on the Orient Express,"
arrived in Bulgaria's Danube city of Ruse Tuesday.

The legendary train arrived in the Balkan country with 97 passengers on-board. The passengers, coming from 31 different countries across the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, US, France and Italy, paid at least EUR 6780 for their trip, the BGNES news agency says.

Daniela, a 7-year-old Bulgarian girl, gave presents to some of the passengers, including a ceramic tortoise and a post card from Ruse.

The luxury train, often described as a five-star hotel on tracks, travels with a speed of 100 km per hour and provides its passengers an out-of-this-world travel experience between Paris and Istanbul. Each passenger must pay an additional fee of EUR 3 360 if they wish to have the entire compartment for themselves.

"
Orient Express,"
took its first trip from Paris on October 4, 1883. It was then named "
Express d'Orien,"
until 1891 when it was given the now famous "
Orient Express."
At the time it travelled twice a week from Paris trough Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, and Budapest to Gurgevo where on a ferry it reached Ruse.