Fantastic Sofia Bulgaria Central Rail Station and Train Tour

Built in 1974 in a Minimalist and Brutalist style, Sofia Central Rail Station is totally amazing station. Bright, clean, uncluttered, and sleek in design, I give the train station 2 Thumbs-up. This is the standard that train stations should be built to. Come along as we enter into and tour the Train Station Hall and then check-out different trains at the station. We see different classes of trains, locomotives, and station platform. We will also check-out the dining locations at the station.

[@philipposphilippou2844]

I was in Sofia few years ago (2014) and at that time the railway station looked abandoned and collapsing. I am very glad to see how things progress in our good friend and neighbor. Regards from Greece

[@swissclimber1]

Yes, I was most impressed. One of the best train stations in Europe from a modernity and cleanliness standard

[@cubicle89]

We should be taking notes. The Athens central station is a disgrace!

[@that90skid72]

@@cubicle89 Totally. It doesn't look like a proper station, more like a plain train stop. Why couldn't they make a normal central train complex by uniting the former Peloponnese station with it ? That would have been a good idea. But...we all know how it works in Greece...

[@nicholas2725]

@@swissclimber1 to be honest its not that impressive. Like sure it's clean and all but the rotating door literally has a step right in the middle of it.

[@daraka1754]

Because it was awlfull

[@GoindiMedia]

As a traveller I have been three times in Sofia, my favourite city, first time visited in 1983, than on my own foot steps in 2013, and last time in 2019 It was more beautiful, romantic and magical city in 1983 Long live Bulgaria

[@cooldoc69]

Wonderful memories from 1984 to 1991. Been through this grandiose station many a time. Love this place so much that on one of my recent visits ( 2017 autumn) spent a couple of hours just walking around and people watching. As I always said, strahotna darzhava i sardechen narod. Blessed to be there .

[@swissclimber1]

I'm glad you liked it. I'd like to see pictures and videos from then vs. now

[@DustBG-fh6ef]

I'm from Bulgaria and I love trains

[@swissclimber1]

Yes. I'd rather date trains vs. some women

[@theladavaz2107]

@Steven Moore This is the gebcians, he do less in The trains

[@MBenz-ou1uk]

Welcome in Sofia❤

[@eldwinlimbong9194]

next september we will go to sofia are you bulagrian?? there is trani from sofia to Varna?

[@007supertime]

hello from Istanbul. good job, Bulgaria is becoming a modern country, we love visiting Bulgaria

[@mansbjork5721]

Looks cool, big and modern. We in Belgrade don't even have a proper train or bus station right now 😔

[@swissclimber1]

Belgrade! I would like to visit for sure. Is there a subway system or just trams?

[@mansbjork5721]

@@swissclimber1 Trams and a small railway system, which connects one suburb with the centre. But it's not a metro since a big part is above ground, though there is a big underground station in the centre.

[@NorthSea_1981]

Looks very nicely renovated! :-)

[@yordan.yordanov18]

Very clean and beautiful station !

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Стефанбургия🇧🇬

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Стефанбург 🇧🇬 Болгария

[@galingalin1849]

Ти сериозно ли? Ебати грозотилото се получи.

[@kg99ism]

The sign on the Chech locomotives says: Pilzen, Chechoslovakia - the city, where the Skoda plants were in the 70-ies, where these model was built.

[@antonv.]

Nice

[@kosmicheskiprah]

Thanks for sharing and promoting the city´s station. If only, you knew what state it was in a couple of years ago. Regarding the guys inside the locomotive, not such an important conversation (they were not talking about you - so keep your cool). Trains in Bulgaria are usually empty because they have a bad reputation of being very slow and mediocre. If you ask an average Bulgarian, they´d (secretly) tell you to take the bus or airplane instead. We are all wishing for a TGV, AVE or high speed train like in France or Spain for instance.

[@swissclimber1]

Yes I saw pix from before redecoration and it was super ugly!

[@pmonter97]

OHHH now I understand why they look empty...

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Стефанбург 🇧🇬

[@gary8306]

I like the slow train, gives you time to look at the beautiful scenery.

[@CarlosElChacalo]

Very nice mate. Last time I've been at this station was like 10-11 years ago and it looked quite dodgy at the time.

[@cooltrainspotting]

You have missed to show that on the mezanine level, the big steam train mosaic is made of thousands of small railroad pictures from Bulgaria. A few are made by me in fact :) I like your videos a lot. Thanks!

[@swissclimber1]

I was in a bit of a rush so I couldn't absorb everything. But the before vs. now how the station looks is amazing. I love the new station

[@lorenzoderobertis8116]

Seems to be nice and spacy station. Modern, i like those long and wide platforms. I have never been there, but looks better than Bucarest gara de Nord.

[@iztok252]

the one guy mentioned something about an engine and then it cuts away and he says it fits perfectly

[@TALeonor]

People of your country got to be united to give or bring back life to your cities, use your facilities or utility, spare the durables you have, and I hope the people will benefit using your utilities, such as train transport facility.

[@swissclimber1]

Yes. But everyone wants to progress and be independent and have use of a personal car.

[@miloslavantonov3863]

Very nice video. Thank you for the nice presentation. The station looks very nice. And you are right the graffiti on the trains are awful!

[@cijaksavola1096]

5:40 plecháč!..This a nickname of this loco in Czech and Slovak

[@kg99ism]

The locomotive is for local in-station maneuvers.

[@user-yx4iz8gb1e]

5:40- The background is machine specification: Vmax= 130km/h. Hour power- 3140kW. Grip weight- 87t. Electrical tension- 25kV 50Hz. Serial number. Year of manufacturing

[@swissclimber1]

Thank you!

[@Cv3T0m1R]

The Bulgarian government is refreshing the railway lines across the country, but wonders whether it will give several billion euros for new trains or for fighter jets.

[@swissclimber1]

I saw some pictures of what it was like before it is now and all I can say - it was SUPER UGLY before

[@meatpie29]

From China.

[@mowtow90]

Yeah , it was. While I was student i had to travel almost every weekend via that station - i hated that place. It was build with the old idiotic communist ideology of big is better. It doesn't matter if its functional or beautiful - it has to be big. The building was so massive and made out of marble that during winter they ware not able to heat it - so they just made several heated rooms for passengers to wait - it was freezing. Few years ago, the government gave money and they rebuild the entire thing.

[@daraka1754]

Имаме нужда предимно от нови локомотиви, и поне 40 нови мотриси с 1 и 2 класа купе, другите вагони - реконструкция.

[@pmonter97]

I think the architecture is amazing...regardless the fact trains are old, they look clean and comfortable inside...However, why was it empty? Specially on workday at that time where people are pretty busy. It makes me think about those governments that invest more money on other things without evaluating the needs of the citizens first.

[@swissclimber1]

I was there over lunch. Most people probably use the station during the morning or evening. That being said I remember I was in Helsinki Finland around Noon and it was super crowded. So yes, it is kind of weird to be empty.

[@Hartofilax]

Trains in Bulgaria have reputation to be super slow, dirty etc etc - most people prefer the bus.

[@GoindiMedia]

Agreed✌️

[@ouledcha3bahrar405]

Hello

[@Fesztusz]

Hi Guy! Good video. Mayba a little bit big building but really not bad...

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Болгары они не Славяне они Родственники Грузинов

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Грузиастан Тагду 🇬🇪

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Грузины-Муслимане

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Раджал 🇦🇲

[@BGivka]

Wow.... I was last there in the 90s. This station was terrible, dirty, etc.. what an improvement!

[@swissclimber1]

Sure is beautiful. Like a work of art. I could live at the station!

[@BGivka]

@@swissclimber1 yes, I am very happy to see that..

[@samimsamimi4627]

I came there but the thing i was thinking europ zone now the resourse dont have same feeling cover ups dont know why

[@nanderv]

Last year it looked totally abandoned again. The food court had no stalls in it, and the children's area thing was entirely empty.

[@swissclimber1]

Sad. Such an awesome terminal. One of the most interesting I've seen

[@longninus]

Big Station, low passengers.Both second class cars are from Germany.

[@swissclimber1]

Yup. Haha, nice colors a few decades ago the blue interior but ugly now

[@yogiaol]

Flix train in Germany have now the same cars.

[@runoflife87]

This train looks like it was taken direct from the junkyard.

[@stoilalex242]

Добре изглежда. Последния път като съм влизал в страдата по стените стояха петолъчките и по тах гълъби. Долу пък имаше сиганки от бранша, смърдеше на креозот от траверсите и на урина от прошляците. Някой ден ще мръдна да разгледам. Виж гарата на Горна Баня си е същата като в 1930 година :)

[@swissclimber1]

Уау благодаря за вашите коментари. Радвам се, че видях как старата сграда вече е нова. Бях впечатлен и България трябва много да се гордее с това. Толкова ми хареса, че можех да преместя спалнята си на ЖП гарата и да бъда щастлив.

[@magdalena9016]

Bulgarian station, Czechoslovakian locomotives.

[@swissclimber1]

Yes, Skoda was and is a very well-known heavy-industry manufacturer

[@antonistoilkov3224]

The conversation is quite fragmented and it does not carry any meaning as it is but: 05:30 - He says he had issues with someone who told him if he is not the driver, then they break the arrangement; then he replays this is some great news. Next frame: Someone called Tsigara (I cannot hear very well, it must be a nickname) says he and someone else are a great match. The last one: he basically says he cannot tell him much, he does not know or he is not allowed to. Not really meaningful conversations.

[@swissclimber1]

Thanks. Could a Russian understand what he says?

[@antonistoilkov3224]

Possibly. But I've noticed Bulgarians understand other Slavic languages easier than vice versa.

[@dwartbg1]

swissclimber1 No Bulgarian and Russian are totally different languages even though they sound similar to foreigners. To us Bulgarians Russian doesnt even sound similar since they speak more soft and “ whiney”, so to say. It sounds like speaking Bulgarian with a funny accent and like youre speaking Bulgarian in a funny way. Also most words that are the same have different meanings, example the word for Life in Bulgarian means Stomach in Russian. The word for Mouse means Bear in Russian and so on. Its different languages, historically though Russian originates from Bulgarian, since Bulgaria is the oldest Slavic country and the cyrillic alphabet was created in the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

[@IANinALTONA]

The 2nd class coach looked like it was bought from old DB (German Rail) 'InterRegio' stock?!

[@swissclimber1]

Oh yes! The blue/green was DB stock for sure. Was that from the 80's or 90's?

[@klaus9714]

@@swissclimber1 These are UIC-Z wagons from the DR of the DDR (GDR). They were built mostly in "Halberstadt" but in "Bautzen" too. They are from the 70´s originaly and were redesigned in the 90´s for the concept of the "Interregio" together with West-German wagons. But the trains in this video are all East-German. The train with the middle-entry are "y-Wagen" (y-wagon). The y comes from the name (like B*y*uu). They were also built in East-Germany Halberstadt in the 70´s, at the beginning in fast and later used mostly in Communter trains.

[@klaus9714]

Im actually surprised. Those y-Wagen didn´t have the redesign from the 90´s. They were directly sold to Bulgaria * _ *

[@bastianmann4936]

Most of the carriages are from germany, the one on the long distance train is a former InterRegio and the regional carriage a y-wagen.

[@swissclimber1]

Do you know the country where the InterRegio train came from?

[@bastianmann4936]

@@swissclimber1 Germany, some of these coaches are still in use for DB

[@ducksinarow9272]

they sell spray to punks in Bulgaria too?

[@Just_a_Lad]

Unfortunately yes. There are lots of ugly graffiti in Sofia especially, those little fuckers have to be jailed in my opinion and the spray banned from selling to regular people, especially young slackers. Even my building have some.

[@enriquevergara8953]

Similar a Buenavista Mexico city

[@doriancroatia2054]

but there are lights during the night?

[@swissclimber1]

Oh I am sure. It must be nice at night too. I did not have the chance to do that .

[@doriancroatia2054]

Zagreb Central Station is a joke comparing to this one lol... we're currently upgrading track corridors but I hope someday the main station too.

[@user-ci2lk3nc3d]

Стефанбург 🇧🇬 Болгария

[@paweln3590]

Where are hidden all the people ?

[@swissclimber1]

Well it was not during busy morning or evening period. But still I was surprised so few people.

[@nikolov7]

The station doesn't look like before ,I remember when I was younger ,the station was crowded ,lots of shops people ,I use to travel every day to work Now is different is like a gost station ,not busy ,Sofia as well is not like before I guess everyone now is living abroad axxx you had to see the old station 15 year ago ,it was full with passengers ,shops people selling everything now all is empty can't believe it ,but every time when I am coming back from London I like seating with hours here and waiting my train to my home town , remains me the good old times even if the station looks new without people ,I still love this place soooo much memories thanks for sharing :) Maybe someday we Bulgarians will come back home

[@Yote12]

БДЖ успешно са се погрижили гарата да е празна...

[@Tania_massaggi_olistici]

Da.niama jiv 4ovek.No e 4isto,malko lokomotivite sa stari,ama vsi4ko e ok.

[@daraka1754]

@@Tania_massaggi_olistici да бяха само локомотивите 😂😂

[@MrRJInman]

Be careful with taxis outside the station they will rip you off.

[@swissclimber1]

That is the case everywhere in the world. What I do is go to the main road and just flag a taxi down who is passing by

[@_kristian_3855]

3:56 this is defenetly not 1-st class I'm from Bulgaria and I know very well

[@sashosom]

Shame only a tiny fraction of the potential of all that space is used.. That's the result of a systematic, some would say criminal, underfunding and neglect of our rail services. Nowadays it's all about cars (as snazzy as possible) or coaches crisscrossing the country. Thanks anyway for admiring our station- it doesn't get much of that- and for also pointing out the flaws in the state of the train cars. Hope you had an altogether good time in Bulgaria and you got to depart from the station to a nice location!

[@swissclimber1]

I was pretty impressed also with parts of the airport. Some parts were great (the link to the train) but inside the terminal near the gates was not so great

[@kindadramaticboi5117]

They were saying: ... well, thats even better for the engine, ofcourse.............. I mean nothing, you understand, nothing man.

[@samuelosei-somuah3072]

One of the greatest achievements of Socialist Bulgaria

[@swissclimber1]

Yes but it was ugly inside the terminal during that time but now it's awesome. So Old Socialism + Modern Design Flair = Fantastic Rail Station now

[@klaus9714]

Would be cool if our ex-german trains were treated properly :(

[@swissclimber1]

Was in Romania and some of them were even in worse condition

[@klaus9714]

swissclimber1 I know, its sad.

[@emokob121996]

There are not 17 tracks :D There are more than 40 but you can't see it there .. ;)

[@theladavaz2107]

They saying (But its not full) Oh, if dont have it nowere Engine, i say its more good Mhm Sound Ist booming This i can hear

[@swissclimber1]

Thank you for translating.

[@crappymccrappen4897]

Does it still smell of pee or do they keep the hobos out?

[@swissclimber1]

HAHA - no it was so clean that you could eat off the floor and sleep on it like it was your house.

[@bobi7110]

Cause I’ve done some also

[@Arpa61]

I'm Polish. I live in Warsaw. I like Bulgaria and Bulgarians, but these views saddened me. It just looks poor... 😏

[@swissclimber1]

Not sure where you think it looks poor. It looked modern and nice - except some of the cars that were older and from the 80's

[@u47mkbg]

It is not poor. Just empty railroad station. Most of young Bulgarians are in Germany.

[@maparodes]

Che senso ha costruire una struttura imponente per 11.000 passeggeri al giorno?

[@swissclimber1]

Yes I agree! This is what Wikipedia says. It may be right, it may not be.

[@Tania_massaggi_olistici]

Perché è vecchia stazione.Dal tempo del comunismo.Tu hai visto i treni😁.? Vecchissimi.Ma il grande shock è che sono vuoti.Anche io nn.vedo nessun senso.Anche perché con treni dai tempi di Garibaldi quanto tempo impiegerai per spostarti da punto A a punto B.La stazione si riempirà quando i treni sono efficaci.

[@mangococonut4918]

In 2018 Bulgaria buy trains from China.

[@kindadramaticboi5117]

The Eliter In 2018 - Bulgaria will make trains.

[@mangococonut4918]

Zeppelin Killer I know, but I hear that.

[@Laf1949]

Vous etes fou? De quelle station fantastique s'agit-il?

[@swissclimber1]

Не мисля, че харесвате България. Откъде си, че ги мразиш?

[@Laf1949]

@@swissclimber1 I treat all countries normally, but when someone writes that the subway in Sofia is fantastic, it makes me laugh. I have seen the metro in many European capitals and I can say that the Sofia metro is the worst

[@grundgesetzart.1463]

@@Laf1949 worse than that of Vienna, with its unheated cars, with many trains without air-condition in summer? I don't think so

[@grundgesetzart.1463]

@@swissclimber1 he is a Macedonian or Greek, I guess....ignore him.....

[@RositsaPetrovarjp7]

No one uses trains anymore in Bulgaria. A sad fact. It was not the case until the mid 1990s. the station looked much better in the 1980s and the trains too. I loved traveling by train as a child.

[@swissclimber1]

Thanks for comments. Everyone sure seems to be driving cars. I still feel the station is super cool, clean and modern.

[@bobi7110]

Those Graffiti are AWESOME

[@klaus9714]

no

[@dwartbg1]

They werent speaking anything particular in Bulgarian with these cuts you cant get their conversation. The words heard are like - nothing particular, nothing, i said, i told you nothing

[@swissclimber1]

Thanks. It sounds like they are angry when they speak. I don't understand what they're saying but he sounds angry

[@yogiaol]

@@swissclimber1 It is not angry, I am Bulgarian. Very normal speaking.

[@NT-jb2vy]

Looks nice but looks too small for a capital city

[@swissclimber1]

Yes but Bulgaria has a small population so everything will be to scale. The airport is quite small too with only single-aisle plane service

[@ilievauto8314]

Cлед '89 България зае достойното място сред страните от третия свят...а София заприлича на стар турски град..

[@Just_a_Lad]

In developed countries railway transport is supposed to be a priority and respectively a nice way to travel. In the developing countries the railway transport is meant for poor people and in general is neglected by the authorities. Yes they modernized some of the trainstations but the trains are still very old and slow in general. As for the graffiti , I hate those ... they're like everywhere in Sofia, stupid kids.

[@swissclimber1]

Thanks for the comments. Sofia station is awesome though. The trains that I saw at the station less so. But I still love trains no matter what

[@gaesomun4026]

Really Ugly

[@swissclimber1]

It's beautiful