Balkans' Most Unique Night Train: The Lovćen

[@Thundergod7734]

The rail line of my childhood. Every vacation we would go by this train. The stories one can hear on those trains are memorable. But only for locals. Fun fact, while Serbia and Montenegro were still in union, there were 3 departures every day, regardless of season

[@SeverityOne]

Selling spray paint appears to be a solid business decision in the Balkans.

[@osasunaitor]

All of Southern Europe in fact. It's the same shit here in Spain, utterly disgusting. It's one of the reasons why I avoid travelling by train, trains where you can't even see out of the windows shouldn't be in service but hey nobody cares.

[@vladimirkostic101]

@@osasunaitor it's only this old commie train. New trains on the new railway between Belgrade and Novi Sad are always clean and under surveillance from the inside and out.

[@osasunaitor]

@@vladimirkostic101 true, but the Belgrade commuter trains (BG Voz) are the most vandalised I've ever seen in my life.

[@ronclark9724]

It is just a matter of not giving in to the TAGGERS... I had the back wall of MY shop TAGGED several times by a TAGGER, and after each time I had my son in law whose profession is being a painter, paint MY wall the color I chose over the TAG. Eventually the culprit asked me why I painted over his art? I replied, it is MY wall, I will paint MY wall whatever color I choose. If you wish to paint walls, paint YOUR wall. I don't mind paying my son in law to paint MY wall as I know at least my grandchildren will have MILK today... When I was a child my parents taught me to respect other people's property. Apparently parents don't teach their kids that today...

[@SeverityOne]

@@ronclark9724 Taggers are idiots. Graffiti can be art, but not the ones who basically spray their autograph. They're not famous enough for that.

[@directorient]

You are so excited and so happy to do finally this trip. Maybe because I am now too old for this, but a train with no AC in the heat and humidity of summer, 3 hours late, with frequent malfunctions, with people smoking inside is not for me. Me too didn't care too much for such things when I was young, but now I wouldn't be so satisfied.

[@dzonikg]

Well its peace off history ,this is how we in Yugoslavia went to sea side for holidays ,except now is lot slower then 50 years ago and 90% off lines are closed haha

[@marcoyankovich]

You dont have to so stop being so smart.

[@buzzukfiftythree]

All I can say Thibault is 'bravo!' There's no way on Earth you'd get me on that train, even less if I had to share a sleeping compartment. It demonstrates how far behind so many of the Balkans nations are with regard to rail transport. But great video material, well done!

[@ronclark9724]

This night train makes Amtrak look good...

[@samtrak1204]

You are the ultimate world traveler and explorer. Thanks for sharing.

[@Vierwiel-Knyntsje]

Glad you didn't have the guy from the next window as a room mate.

[@DanielAldous-yu7kj]

💀💀

[@paradoxparade1]

12:52 That was no ordinary train passenger. Mark my words, she's going to commandeer that landship into the Adriatic sea, never to be seen again.

[@SeriousDragonify]

She became Blondebeard after she entered her ship.

[@SeriousDragonify]

Btw she always travels between cities for attention on her bird. She's been in Igalo every year in summer and people take pictures. Only on snakes cant take pics because their eyes are sensitive on flash.

[@bobe.3719]

That train makes Amtrak look like the Orient Express.

[@horsehollerer]

I do not understand why anyone would choose to do the Montenegro section in the dark. The 3 hours or so between Virpazar and Bijelo Polje is the most scenic mountain railway journey I have ever taken. Huge mistake imho.

[@gorangoran6335]

Spot on.

[@cestmoi1262]

The author isn't interested in "countryside" type traveling. All he wants is to get from one big city to another big city preferably traveling at night.

[@themazeLE]

The day connection is now only served by emus, which makes it less attractive in my opinion. And you have to change in Bijelo Polje.

[@cestmoi1262]

@@themazeLE That may be so but I think my statement in general is still correct.

[@markustitus-mts]

Oh yeah

[@danielagiovanazzi2055]

I remember those couchettes as a child travelling from Boulogne to Milan in the 1980s and early 90s! I wondered what happened to this brilliant SNCF Motorail service but it's great to see not all of their former couchettes went to scrap.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Thanks!

[@srkiboss8124]

Dobar video avantura vozom 😉👍

[@joehrlein847]

I just viewed the same rail trip on KZbin, Europe by Train. The trip was in reverse Belgrade to Bar in the day time. There is some beautiful scenery in the mountains and a bit of the coast at the end of the video.

[@matematika1000]

Hey! I’m glad you made a video about Serbian railways. I saw you posted about the line to Bulgaria and mentioned how bad the infrastructure is. Well good news for you! Niš-Bulgaria line is under reconstruction right now and will be finished within two years. The line to Montenegro is also due for reconstruction, but construction hasn’t started yet. I’d love it if you could make a video about a good part of Serbian railways so it doesn’t all look so grim! The full rest of the Belgrade-Budapest line (Serb side) is opening on November 15th and it would be awesome to see it on this channel :) 200 km/h

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

great video 😍😍❤❤

[@phronsiekeys]

Those narrow platforms at the Montenegrin stations--never seen anything like that before.

[@АэлитаПопович]

В Угорщині таке саме явище

[@amberbaltic297]

Sarajevo-Ploce is also very scenic.

[@potatopie2434]

me: 'I should watch something while eating dinner - oh boy, new simply railway video!' the video: 20:10 Still love your content though :)

[@themazeLE]

7:25 At least one brake was not released, which was clearly audible during the departure.

[@chillerfrigotek9121]

Çok güzel görüntüler için teşekkürler.. Türkiye/İzmir'den selam ve sevgiler..

[@rezaalan3991]

Great trip. Definitely unforgettable experience onboard with some uniqueness.

[@NormanAllen-ps9ju]

Egad, what a train !

[@GiosueTibolla]

Wow, the sleeping car is an original MU type! The FS also use them (refurbished) in their night trains (all of them with Fiat bogie instead of the Minden-Deutz ones). It's good to have a video of their original interior, as (in Italy) just one original unit is left and it has bern restored by Fondazione FS, so it's not possible to see it frequently and there are almost no pictures of it. Until now, it has been used just two times, both of them with the Espresso Cadore by Treni Turistici Italiani

[@georgepins9387]

This train, for the most part, looks like a rolling pile of barely held-together junk, with graffiti that would rival an American freight train, and passengers to match. I'm glad you enjoyed it. If I took that trip, I would consider it to be taking one for the team.

[@pasjonat-azbestu]

Yay more Balkan content!

[@ONtheTrains]

Thanks for sharing.

[@sorindinu2684]

Love the sound of this loc.the 😊Romanian 060 ea "electroputere" Craiova!

[@Davidstrains2056]

Too bad electroputere went bankrupt. I imagine what their locomotives would look like today.

[@Comrade_Dyatolov]

Thanks for reviewing trains in my beautiful country of serbia, hope you enjoyed, and be sure to travel on SOKO, our newest trains ❤

[@tonkohorvat9865]

Serbia,beautiful country!???😂😂😂😂

[@Comrade_Dyatolov]

@@tonkohorvat9865 better than most places, you probably never been to serbia 🤡

[@matematika1000]

@@tonkohorvat9865both Serbia and Croatia can be beautiful, you doofus

[@Epic_FrameEdits]

@@tonkohorvat9865womp womp

[@samtrak1204]

Throwing piss out of the window is only marginally worse than dumping piss and shit on the tracks especially when the train is standing in the station.

[@petrsovicka]

Probably this is the only night train I would ride in the seating car thanks to the AC. Noise coming from outside is an issue for me since I've had a bad experience before. Anyway, thx for your report. It's another truly amazing contribution to the train science!

[@Busfotodotnl]

I rode the same traject in 2008. Back then, i slept in the old French stock you filmed by drone at5:29

[@AKAIGXF71]

Super '70s-'80s style train!

[@sergeypharma8004]

Очень интересная поездка. Спасибо

[@slowyhumanbeing]

Me gusta mucho tu contenido!!!!! 💚💚💚💚💚

[@Letsgobyland]

This is absolutely scenic ride! Took it few times. Of corse from belgrade to bar is better because of the daylight :)

[@samtrak1204]

Is the colorful graffiti the permananet color scheme?

[@osasunaitor]

Sadly yes, it's never removed.

[@furakkko]

❤❤綺麗ですね〜

[@sorindinu2684]

Love the sound of this loc.the Romanian 060 ea "electroputere" Craiova!

[@marianmauritz8322]

Nice Video

[@sipsukka11]

I did the journey about 3 weeks ago but other way (belgrade to podgorica) and it was memorable :D I thought the whole train was as grimey as the montenegro couchette that i was in but aparently not, at least most of the trip was during the darkness so i could not see all the dirt before i left the train in the morning :D But to be fair i think the train was quite full when i bought the ticket like 4 hours before departure, the lady at the belgrade ticket office just asked if i wanted a bed or just a seat, i paid 28€ so i was not expecting much, at least my room mates were okay. We were about 1,5h late in Podgorica. PS. The train was suuuper noisy even if the windows were closed.

[@scottyerkes1867]

Nice accomodations. The graffiti artists covered much of the outside. And i know you loved opening the window. Thanks Thibault😀👍👌

[@bbpete8349]

I too like the no comments format. This is the second recent Simply Railway video I've seen and like the comments in written form only. This format allows the viewer to form their thoughts about what they are seeing and it is better in my opinion. Thank you.

[@Williobb]

Wagon nie pomalowany spreyem w swród pozostałych zafarbowanych wyglada jakoś dziwacznie ! Pozdrowienia dla sympatycznych Czarnog órzan

[@DownieLive]

Oh this train looks so cool! Thanks for bringing us along, Thibault!

[@Backwardlooking]

I like your new style of commentary as including no words is unnecessary. Your video says it all as to the trip. 👍🏻🇫🇷✌️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@ArchmageIlmryn]

It's the exact same style as before, the text is just in youtube's closed captions rather than embedded in the video.

[@GojiMet86]

Meh, on the fence. I hadn't realized until halfway through that something was missing. Now I have to remember to turn on and off CC just for this channel.

[@samtrak1204]

What is that guy doing at the window as the train is pulling into Belgrade station? He looks like he is off his meds.

[@izil1fe]

Belgrade > Bar railway is about to get fully reconstructed and modernized with completely new infrastructure, stations and probably trains. I just hope they realize that having a intercity train like FLIRT on that line is a VERY bad idea. There is A NEED for a sleeper train on that route.

[@richiegarcia2819]

somehow refreshed yt and caught a video after 9 seconds it was uploaded! love your videos and keep it up!

[@Lubelski83]

Nice train 👍🖐️🍺

[@perpetualgrin5804]

I took it last October it was 10 hours late, still enjoyed it.😅

[@SimplyRailway]

Wow... 10 hours late is next level ahah

[@iamthestig1]

The only train that makes British trains seem on time...

[@samtrak1204]

How do you film with other passengers in the cabin?

[@AdamAuxier64]

Who else spotted the Blue & Gold Macaw @12:58?

[@АэлитаПопович]

Вона йому сказала: "Сиди тут!"😂

[@charlesbaran1106]

This train would be about #1500 on my bucket list.

[@kevinellis8869]

Glad you didn't have the parrot as a room mate!

[@richardross9468]

Hell no😳😳😳

[@intersezioni]

the first nightjet trip Vienna - Rome was more delayed! delayed in Austria before entering Italian territory to be precise.

[@borisangelov3775]

My childhood train ❤Next year will be restaurant car on train new refurbished serbian coupe wagons That piss Part tho 🤢 20:10

[@boskod94]

Disgusting behavior of some passengers, but as I saw, this boy has some kind of mental disorder, look at his behavior.

[@mariafalc]

OMG

[@agatastokosa6790]

Do you know If they are going to renew also sleeping wagons?

[@mdstopmotions318]

60 euros for a just a reservation seems a bit steep considering a full fare for one bed is ~44€

[@송인호-v6b]

No cooling system in the train?......Must be crazy..............

[@joergtrachsel7774]

Diese Strecke sollte man keinesfalls mit dem Nachtzug zurücklegen sonst verpasst man die wirklich spektakuläre Landschaft.

[@jonhigginson4096]

Aah, Thibault! That opening shot of the train bouncing around at speed is everything I miss about modern travel in the UK. Sealed tubes with no opening windows shooting quickly and efficiently up & down our country but just missing that excitement.

[@polishstick0609]

If so, then maybe you guys should have still used Mk1 carriages and steam locomotives beacuse it's more "aesthetic". That's very stupid ngl

[@lenala9830]

Balkan people... One language and nobody anybody understude. 😅😅😅😅😅

[@samtrak1204]

Why couldn't you book the nice clean room? Was it souldout?

[@samtrak1204]

Does Compagnie Internationale still run sleeping cars in Europe?

[@statebriga3924]

Hello, For you and all who's watching this video, small notice for map you showed at start - train doesn't travel through Sjenica nor Obrenovac. Route of the train is: Bar - Sutomore - Podgorica - Kolašin - Mojkovac - Bijelo Polje - BORDER - Prijepolje - Priboj - Zlatibor - Užice - Požega - Kosjerić - Valjevo - Lajkovac - Lazarevac - Rakovica - Belgrade Center Station - Zemun

[@SarahRenz59]

When you mentioned Tito''s Blue Train, the first thing that popped into my mind was Tito's Vodka, LOL. It wasn't until the 2nd mention that I realized, "Oh, he's talking about Josip Broz Tito." Fun fact: King Peter II of Yugoslavia was buried in my (US) hometown until his remains were repatriated to Serbia in 2013.

[@thefareplayer2254]

The bar in Bar lol

[@samtrak1204]

Sleeper looks a lot better inside than the graffiti-infested crusty exterior.

[@elodief2928]

Ils sont quand même mieux niveau compartiment couchettes que ceux de la SNCF 😅 je prends toujours le train de nuit régulièrement en France et je tombe encore sur les vieux modèles ou la clim fonctionne pas donc tu roules les fenêtres ouvertes toute la nuit 🤦🏻‍♀️ merci la bronchite au mois d'août 😂

[@user-gx5hf7pm7f]

Хаахаха я в баре живу 😊

[@jaredfontaine2002]

I rode the train. You had to get on the bus between the last 100 miles because the track was being repaired

[@henrikwessels3843]

But how to book the train (I’m not able to visit the station previously)

[@alivinghuman1]

how old is tito’s wagon?

[@Anticommunism99]

80 years

[@michaeldrabe9509]

Great video. I've always liked your commentary. Is there a reason why you're no longer doing it?

[@andrealauer4493]

It's still there, you have to turn on KZbin's subtitles. Instead of the text on screen being part of the video itself like it used to be, now he's got it set up this way. I believe the advantage is that KZbin will translate it into other languages as well

[@dazlebluefrogify]

What a great train video as always love to do that ,is a french ID card ok for serbia or would i need a full passeport ? Also is there a bar/restaurant on the day train ? ,i love scenic train journey living where i do in valence france i have done great ones from here in the Alpes and switzerland 😂😂

[@dzonikg]

You need passport,we are not in EU

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Brilliant post thibault but can’t see this journey making my bucket list 😊

[@hamerjohn]

any dining car?

[@Antonio-vk2pp]

Forever live, Balkan! 🇭🇷🇷🇸🇧🇦🇲🇪🇲🇰🇽🇰

[@yogiaol]

When you will upload the Sofia-Burgas? You say, that you did this route.

[@AntenneQC]

Très bon compte rendu rempli d'anecdotes. Le réseau ferroviaire Serbe semble dans un assez mauvais état, tout comme celui de la Bosnie. Par contre, ils ont fait un gros effort sur la ligne Belgrade-Novisad qui offre des vitesses de 200 km/h et il y a même des "échangeurs". Visiblement, c'est dans cette région qu'ils ont pour le moment concentré leurs investissements, en espérant qu'ils pourront améliorer le reste de leur réseau dans les prochaines années, mais ça va coûter une fortune. J'ai bien hâte de voir le trajet de jour car de nuit, c'est bien pratique pour la logistique du voyageur, mais pas pour apprécier le décor.

[@samtrak1204]

Sleeping car trains must be a hard sell with all the annoying border patrol checks in the middle of the night in non-Schengen countries.

[@trainenthusiast7695]

well being woken up once or twice (at exit of country A and entry of country B) is better than spending maybe 9 hours on a day train :)

[@1738-l1j]

1:54 idk why this gives me Yanov station vibes from call of pripyat

[@BoredSquirell]

I remember traveling on this service so many times as a kid. These days I'd rather drive despite how much I hate cars as transportation. 8h vs 12+h is too much of a difference. It's never the stated 10h43m, never.

[@Starman239]

There is no problem at all to buy a ticket for the blue car #465 - I used to buy tickets for this particular car 6 times or so and never got refused. I just write my preferences in Serbian language (kola 465, donja postelja etc.) on a piece of paper and pass it to a cashier on a railway station in Serbia (where I'm living now) - just do it in advance, few weeks or better 1 month before the ride.

[@zoltanmolnar3293]

Hi You can buy online the tickets? The train runs every year or sezonally? Thx

[@SimplyRailway]

You cannot buy online. The train runs daily every year

[@samtrak1204]

Don't they test engines before departure?

[@dannyboy-vtc5741]

Well, half the train travel vids i've seen on this line had engines break up, but usually somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and then people are left in the mountains, alongside the train under the scorching sun and no food or water, becayse it takes few hours for another engine to arrive, once on some auch railway vid they even hit a horse so the delay was due to that. Montenegrin railways are in the state of total disrepair, serbian ones aren't much better, but they at least are trying something, refurbishing some lines, but this engine at the start looked like it was refurbished in recent years by the paint job, but it failed anyways, montenegrin geogrqphy is made out of mountains, while very hot indeed, so these old engines need excessive maintenance, and i think they can't provide that, not enough engines, not enough maintainers and not enough money to pay for it.

[@samtrak1204]

@@dannyboy-vtc5741 Thanks for sharing.

[@200sx16v]

20:08 Someone's really pissed that the toilets don't work

[@samtrak1204]

It looks like the former Iron Curtain Balkan train systems are not up to par with Western Europe.

[@vladimirkostic101]

It's Montenegro, and they are even in NATO and they serve americans to distribute drugs through EU. In Serbia we have new trains for local, soon the new speed train will go up to Budapest.

[@andywillis2650]

What's happened to the voiceover ??

[@nolunchiseverfree]

How come there’s no more intro narration and captioning during the video?

[@andrealauer4493]

The captions are still there if you turn on KZbin's captions. Top right off the video there is a CC button

[@zoranopra4355]

Deutsche Bundesbahn used normal V200 dieselloks, but three were made ba Krauss Maffei in Munich as V300 with 12. weehls for the blue train. In late 70 GM produced new diesellokomotivs for the blue train. On the line Belgrade Bar was on 27/21993 comitted a terrible war crime. 20 male passangers were took of the train on the station Strpce, which was on the bosnian territory by serbian bosnian army after checking all names of the passangers everyone with moslem name was killed, one with croat name and an unidentifies black man. 20 passangers were killed the youngest was only 16 years old.

[@ringo7561]

Is there a bar on this train from Bar for beer and booze and food?

[@leeoldershaw956]

Everything is so old, dark and dingy it's like "Steam Punk".

[@joemeyers3127]

I haven’t seen that much graffiti on trains since the New York subways in the 1980s.

[@carddamom188]

And there is no Bar in a station named Bar not even a pub... 😢

[@hristoanastasov4688]

For those who feel disgusted by the 20:10 part: Please pay attention to the condition of the child in the very same compartment. You may take a glimpse at the end of the video. Obviously this kid has some mental dissabilities. Probably its conditions does not allow to be left alone for a single minute. Yes, there are ways you could handle this - ask the schaffner, or take it to the levatory, or leave it, or .... so many "or". Yes, it is not a pleasant view, but please bear in mind that here, in the Balkans, this action could be made including just because of pure shame (to be in such condition, to have someone in such condition). I do not blame. Please don't be too fast to blame too! Nice video, though! Thanks for the emotions!

[@lalakerspro]

People in the US have disablities too but ive never seen someone throw piss outside a train. We also dont graffiti our trains like europeans do

[@GojiMet86]

20:10 So I guess everyone just carries around a mini portable port-a-potty? It's not that much effort to just walk to the real toilet. These guys still need to wash their hands anyway in the sink......or maybe not :(

[@paulw.woodring7304]

Graffiti was disgusting. Couldn't believe the woman emptying a female urinal out the window a couple of times. No food service of any kind (not even vending machines) on an overnight train taking 12 hours. Pretty dismal.

[@barryroberts2196]

I don't think I would last half an hour on that train ! Dear oh dear, no A/C, noise, poor ride quality, nah ! So thanks for sticking at it. Oh yes, one more thing. Good job the train wasn't moving at speed when madam decided to empty the pee pot out of the window, now that's one soaking you wouldn't want !

[@paradoxparade1]

That engine was faulty because it spent too much time at (the) Bar.