CONFUSION AT THE BORDER! Prague to Budapest by overnight sleeper train

[@stephentalas1940]

That 4 hour layup is supposed to be the part where you're asleep and dreaming of goulash.

[@cv507]

and VicthörrJä! gäinst grünmänni in blähöFFß v v

[@Dave-zn3gf]

I dream of goulash most nights 😉

[@Honza368]

As someone who has taken this train plenty of times, I wanted to make a few corrections: 1. There is usually a dining car, it was just not there when you travelled, for some reason 2. You don't need permission to shower from the attendant, someone was probably just in there 3. There is actually a table, it's behind the coat racks and it clasps onto the handlebar by the window 4. The 4-hour stop at Břeclav is intentional. The train changes most of it's train cars during this time and also the crew

[@devanman7920]

Thanks for the great info

[@scotbotvideos]

Thanks for the clarification with respect to the banging in the toilet.

[@daffyduk77]

I keep saying this on here, but ... earplugs are a wonderful thing

[@scotbotvideos]

@@daffyduk77 3M ones all the way.

[@carolynalsen3877]

🤣

[@looseycanon]

For anyone wondering, why does the train wait for so long in Břeclav. That's remnant of the original Metropol-Chopin setup that used to run this line. Back then, Metropol ran as EuroNight from Berlin via Prague, where it picked up some cauches from Prague itself to Břeclav, where it exchanged coaches with fast class train Chopin on run Warszawa - Břeclav - Wien, took from it through coaches bound for Budapest and gave it through coaches bound for Wien. Since then, there had been some reshuffles and loss of coulture on the rail. Chopin runs no more the way it did. These days, there is a NJ train between Berlin and Graz, which used to run via Poland and recently returned to Czechia. Probelm is, the NightJet arrives at Prague around midnight, so it would be impractical to have sleeper passengers board then and there. As such, sleepers bound for Budapest are attached to the last higher quality train bound for Břeclav and the sleeper cars "sleep" at Břeclav station, to by merged with cars from Warszawa to Budapest and form a new train. There are no through cars to Wien anymore on Metropol. Also, accodring to vagonweb.cz, that InterCity, which carries thte sleepers should have had a dining car second car fromt the end.

[@mats7492]

ive read this 3 times and still dont get it..

[@bganonimouse2754]

@@mats7492 I read it once and was confused and don't care to try again :)

[@dancapewell]

​@@mats7492 Sleeper cars leave on a train wait at that station for a few hours to join another that has come from a different place to give the sleepers enough time to sleep

[@SLOC1992]

oh shit if there was a dining car and scott missed it 😁

[@SLOC1992]

@@bganonimouse2754 hahahaha likewise

[@steve-marsh]

Scott you have an unfair advantage over the rest of us as you don't need to sleep. The man just goes for it 24hrs a day, a machine :D

[@DaveCroft-w1d]

hahah true - it's his cruising altitude methinks

[@nocturn791]

Urgent message from home. The lawn needs mowing.....

[@markylon]

He has coffee for blood

[@Saltybuher]

I just wonder could he have slept if he wanted to? It looked worse than a doctor’s examination table.

[@PatrickBurford1]

Or food…

[@meihualiao761]

Took same train last summer. Was an interesting trip indeed. Sleeper car passenger can use the CD lounge in Praha station. Most travellers do not know this. By the way, there is a dinning table behind the ladder which looks like an ironing board.

[@samipatel7118]

BABE WAKE UP PLANES TRAINS EVERYTHING DROPPED A NEW VIDEO

[@patrickstarnes2355]

More trains than planes! I'd like to see him take a small two seater biplane!

[@gftyhify]

I love Prague and the architecture of the city. I’m quarter Czech myself. My grandad was born in Czechoslovakia but immigrated to Scotland in between the end of World War 2 and the beginning of the Soviet Era

[@spacedog_80]

What do you mean by "Soviet Era"? Czechoslovakia was never in its entire existence part of the Soviet Union. It was an ally, yes, but not a Soviet state.

[@BengtHansves]

The long stop in Breclav is because switching in and out "Kurswagen" - Through coaches - to and from your train to other trains. Breclav is a real hub !

[@johnmurray6802]

4.41 ‘An assortment of dials and things’. This is the stuff I like from Scott’s reviews. 😆

[@DaveCroft-w1d]

and the phone to the president

[@scefexxxx]

"Sadly I ate at Burger King" never a more true Statement. many of us have uttered the same words Mate

[@DaveCroft-w1d]

hahah sadly i worked for burger king 6 years 🍔

[@CZpersi]

Sleeper cars often wait for hours at hub stations, waiting to be attached to a train, which takes them to the next portion of their journey. Since they are sleepers, there is no rush. You do really not take sleeper trains for speed. You take them for convenience as they are like "hotels on rails".

[@markylon]

You remind me of Sherlock Holmes

[@peteking8063]

Cruising altitude ✅😊

[@dennismatthews6660]

Thank you. Always an adventure.

[@moirabryce5415]

Fellow paisley buddy living in canada. While visiting paisley 7 yrs ago i took a caledonian bus tour from paisley. Prague, budapest Vienna. Love your channel.

[@djmark143]

So good to see Scott likes his coffees as much as I do. 😄 A good coffee makes the start of your day so much better. 😁

[@jankozek7475]

Great video as always. Please do another Q&A! I love your stories.

[@suebt8794]

Miss the digging videos! But love our adventures together. I enjoy seeing where you are staying.

[@IngramCars]

Bang Bang Bang Bang from the next compartment, so glad you clarified it was the door banging! 😂

[@Beechhill]

Love tagging along on your adventures, Scott! A night train covering only a little over 500 km is bound to lay up for a couple of hours to prolong the travel time, and allow any possibility of the resemblance of a full night's rest. Trains, as opposed to cars and ferries, can't just plod along at a snails pace. They're forced to travel at speed as not to block the track.

[@rogertemple7193]

I really enjoy seeing the over night train trips especially from Prague to Budapest Thanks Scott have a great week.☕👍🇬🇧

[@mmt44y]

Similar experience on a train from Lvov to Prague 20 years ago. It sat with no engine for several hours in the Krakow rail yard. Attendant told us how to walkout of the rail yard if we didn't want to sit. I went to the city and touristed for a few hours (early evening), then went to the main station to catch the train to Prague when it had returned from the yard.

[@carolinegreenwell9086]

thank you for clarifying that it was the toilet door that was banging !!

[@trollofduty007]

Gave me a chuckle you felt the need to clarify that it was the toilet door that was going "Bang bang bang" Lovely video as always Scott!

[@andywillis2650]

Well done Scott, breakfast looked great !

[@Pushi1974]

Can't wait the next episode ,which is hopefully from Hungary ! Scott? Hungarian from Manchester

[@SLOC1992]

RIA, RIA, HUNGARIA!

[@pkjlr77]

Getting close to 100,000 subscribers Scott. Hopefully by the end of 2024 🤞 Merch with cruising altitude on has to be next 😀

[@FranssensM]

Coffee mugs with “get me to cruising altitude” on them

[@kazzicup]

The Prague train station impressed me. 🚆🚆 Scott, I enjoyed tagging along.

[@ChrisPipinghot]

That was brilliant Scott. I fancy doing that myself sometime.

[@mark-147]

Visited Brno last summer. Absolutely loved it.

[@paulgibsonphotography]

Great Video Scott

[@ArturKolejarz]

there is a table In each compartment, that can be installed. In your compartment, I saw it behind the ladder. A towel, toothbrush and toothpaste should be available in the compartment. Did you ask the conductor about a table, towel or toothbrush with toothpaste.

[@robd1365]

I really enjoy your trips/journeys in this part of the world, I have lots of great memories from CZ, SK and HU. Slovakia in particular. There are lots of interesting places along the Danube, and a hydropower station at Gabcikovo/Bős. Have travelled around by train from Dunajska Streda. A bowl of halaszle and a large Kofola at a nice little bar by the river called Hullam Csarda, happy times!

[@ulicnik24]

It's usually waiting at Breclav for other trains and they mix coaches from various trains to different destinations.

[@alanshelly7068]

Awesome video buddy from Alan in Lowestoft buddy 👍 😊

[@cambsy37]

Hi Scott,im watching this from. Ibis in Warsaw,about to tomorrow go Warsaw-Budapest,2 nights Budapest, then Budapest to Berlin train, then 2 nights Berlin then 3 nights sleeper doing Berlin-Stockholm-Narvik-Stockholm etc.on 22 day continuous Interail 1st class pass.

[@zoltans72]

The lengthy wait at Breclav is normal and if you check the timetable it is written there. Same happens on the opposite route ( Budapest - Prague )

[@Autobusy_vsetin]

You are perfect ať what you are doing! Please continue 😊

[@paulhoughton5266]

I hope you have some Budapest related films coming up for us 😀

[@david-stewart]

Didn't look too bad! Thanks for sharing

[@jancada2578]

!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those 4 hours in Břeclav is to mix wagons from 2 trains - the 1st train was that yours "metropolitan" in direction west - east (Prague - Budapest) and the 2nd one is north - south Warsaw/Krakow - Vienna !!!!!!!!!!!

[@ronik24]

Nice! 🙂 The stop at Břeclav was as scheduled, mainly because the train exchanges cars with EuroNight 407 "Chopin" from Warsaw (dep. 7:34 p.m.) and EuroNight 40457 from Berlin (dep. 7:21 p.m.) scheduled arrival at 3:38 a.m. The other cars from these trains continue to Vienna and further to Munich / Graz respectively.

[@chrisbushell6077]

Thank you enjoyed the vid

[@chrismconnochie1279]

Bang on as usual..who needs tv....I don`t, not when you have Scott

[@jamesrobinson9194]

Great video. Does anybody remember the trance song "Something" by Lasgo, that was filmed in Praha hlavní nádrazí?

[@dianewood15]

Excellent video again Scott

[@Diana-andre2018]

Interesting video Scott, but I’m totally convinced the best part of your journey for you was breakfast and, of course, the coffee,😊

[@camdobson5433]

I had the goulash on a Czech train a couple years ago... it was delicious

[@twojstarywedkarz6719]

The border drama is basically assembling new trains out of different trains that arrive to Břeclav. That way Warszawa/Kraków, Praga, Wien/Bratislava and Budapeszt can send one train to all targeted destinations, instead of sending them separately. It’s more cost-effective that way.

[@christinehodge3608]

Good video

[@myrabenson1603]

Seemed an ok journey 👌 thank for sharing 🙏

[@ericvanmarwijk]

Hi Scott, i like to see your video's, about the little Czech railcar..... they are made in former Czechoslovakia... you really should go to GYOR..... it's about 1 hour by train from Budapest.... and in Gyor you find a lott of the little railcars, they depart from platform 7!... because they are driving in Czechia, Slovakia, and in Hungary.... in august i was in Gyor, and there they have 2 variations of them.... the red-yellow (OLD) ones, and modern blue-Yellow, with modern refurbished interior....., in Hungary they gave it the name Zsmot, my name btw is Eric, and i''m a train enthousiast from The Netherlands

[@rogink]

The delay at the Slovak border instead of the Hungarian one seems odd - as it wasn't a border until the early 90s. But yeah, makes sense to park up for a few hours to delay the arrival time. It's similar with the cross-channel ferries. Portsmouth-Le Havre is around 7-8 hours daytime, but overnight it's more like 11. It crawls along at a snail's pace, which I suppose saves on fuel.

[@TRAVEL.HIGHLIGHTS]

🙂 Hello, you get a very nice breakfast 😋😋😋

[@bobbastian760]

I was surprised there was a night train from Prague to Budapest - it's not a long distance, the long wait makes sense, it's probably intentional - hence being on time.

[@johnwilkes7624]

The door opens outward from your cabin ! Wouldn't want to be walking past when that happened .

[@daffyduk77]

Sleeper services Belgium -> Germany 40 years ago were characterised by very slow movement, lots of stop-start, hanging around, overnight border-control checks pre Schengen (great for sleep). 6 couchettes to a compartment if I recall correctly. Never slept a wink

[@briangentle5515]

True; I remember a trip from Oostende to Mannheim overnight. Though the relatively "friendly" border between Belgium and Germany was handled by the couchette car attendant who simply took our passports and I suppose if the German border guards had any problem with anyone, that person could be woken up...

[@Martycycleman]

Cheers Scott😊

[@alisterhoult4795]

Good Afternoon Scott, I enjoyed watching your KZbin video, Thank you for the video, Alister Ian Hoult, Carrying Place, Ontario, Canada.

[@devanman7920]

The trains are great in theory and a lot of fun but I don't think I've ever gotten off one well slept 😂

[@deekthetrucker5885]

Scott just think if you were stuck in that compartment with 2 other people!! 😢

[@VectorTracker]

I’ve never been this early 😮

[@langserv]

£148 😅 You could have got the Regio Jet day train and a nice hotel for that!

[@briangentle5515]

Yes, but that wouldn't have been half as interesting a video!

[@ashleyrobinson4217]

The 4 hour stop in Breclav was probably more for operational reason rather than to stretch the journey out. Most sleeper trains do a lot of disconnecting and connecting to other trains during the night and being a border station Breclav is known for this at night. I imagine upon arrival at Breclav your portion was detached from the seated cars that were terminating there and you had to wait for another train going through to Bratislava or Budapest that you were then attatched to the front or back of. It was probably a long wait for that train which explains the 4 hour stop.

[@dazlebluefrogify]

Thanks for another midweek great little video scott, so sunday we will see you in Budapest ?maybe a "would i live here" video coming up?

[@sheilamoore9506]

Did that trip sone years ago 3 older ladies in a 3 tier bunk cabin. We didn't sleep much and went round Budapest like zombies the next day!!!

[@rickreid8572]

A great journey made dull....

[@erikamayers6148]

Interesting!

[@FranssensM]

Maybe some merch with: “Does this ferry go to Canterbury?” On them. Or t shirts with a facsimilie signpost that has on it: a picture of a pedestrian and “Pietons Ferry Terminal 14 miles”

[@fatwalletboy2]

The £140 odd quid for a fairly spscious compartment for 9 hours seems good value to me. Something great about travelling on a sleeper

[@john07973]

Good vid 👍

[@silvo-sings]

Good video. Any chance of producing some ( merch) t- shirts… prints like “ what could possibly go wrong”…” I’m at cruising altitude!”👍👍

[@NcWcN1]

11:58 so, that train station was finally completed! (if you know, you know)

[@andrewelley9966]

Nice Video

[@zz44ppppp]

The way you say prague really strips it back 😅

[@smrgeog]

Apparently, it's normal at the border, they're switching out locomotives and carriages. It takes a couple of hours while all the passengers are sleeping.

[@janettesinclair6279]

Great little breakfast! As well as making sense of the start or finish times of the journey, the 4 hour wait means that the travellers would get at least 4 hours of peaceful sleep. Unless, like Scott, wide awake in case they miss something of interest on the trip....

[@HabaneroTi]

Overnight trains with shower facilities, either en suite or down the corridor, should include cheap plastic or rubber slippers so you don't have to stand on the bare floor barefoot and risk catching something if you didn't bring your own. Which is why you should bring your own. And I guess a small towel, it seems. Btw I would have gone for the goulash. Because when on your way to Hungary...

[@CarolWhite-il7ki]

Thankyou

[@timbounds7190]

The irony is that the timetable has 4 hours where you might get some sleep, without all the bumps and crashes of the train moving, but you probably spent the 4 hours semi-stressed out wondering what was going on!

[@Pidalin]

Irony is that it's easier to sleep when it's moving than when it's staying and you hear all people around you.

[@CalinFR]

@@Pidalin exactly. I tried this train in the opposite direction and while it was stationed in Breclav I couldn't shut an eye. It wasn't very pleasant

[@michaelpowell3980]

Our paths might have crossed - I was in Prague recently and had an excellent time (took the EuroSleeper from Brussels) and sadly I too ate in Burger King before my train home. 🙄 Also, it's 'Bretslaf' rather than 'Breklav' for future reference!

[@history_leisure]

If you out around 10pm and in at 6-8am, just eat before boarding and when you get off

[@martinb8337]

I did this journey in reverse in 1993 (important year!), and there was no (particularly) long delay at the borders. Which meant rolling into Prague some time before 5am. Not a lot of fun. Although, given how packed the train was, marginally more fun than remaining wedged into my seat for a further four hours.

[@Pmcknockiter81]

Don't know why but around the 1.30 mark as you were walking down the platform the building in the background was very inverness when walking down the platform there

[@SGtravelsEU]

The train waited for the section out of Warszawa, Krakow and Katowice. You've been on it before Scott, just the other way around

[@jamesdougan6095]

It sure beats the train for Paisley to Glasgow, Scott eh?

[@mw...]

all aboard

[@simonh6371]

Breakfast looks very Austrian...Pfanner juice, Mannerschnitten, and Kaisersemmeln (the bread rolls).

[@alexlangford6291]

4 hour delay could be for overnight track maintenance to be carried out.

[@TravelonlineWalk]

We are driving to Valencia)

[@richardstreet7518]

Still seems quite expensive Scott..

[@fussyboy2000]

So did you get the shower? I think the attendant gives out the towels on request. The red ZSSK sleepers have more charm.

[@Pmcknockiter81]

Very regional rsilways/ scotrail livery on carriages

[@chocolatejellybean2820]

I guess you enjoy this travel and inpredictable? How do you handle the ambiguity, delays within what is heavy planning?

[@smoothmicra]

Sleepless night and no dinner. Where do I sign up?😄

[@People_of_the_Mouse]

If the trip is long enough the cost comparison is to a train/hotel/meal. The deciding factors then become, for me, time and then the sights from the journey I won’t see at night.

[@ianlove1215]

A little factoid: Did you you know that the machine gun used by the Allies known as the Bren gun was a co-op & built in Brno & Enfield.

[@lawsy009]

Curious to know what the day after one of these journeys entails. Do you just crash into bed in a hotel for the day or remain at cruising altitude on multiple coffees and explore the city?

[@billybhoy32]

Please make the videos longer!

[@KeithApp]

You look very similar to Victor Meldrew. Is he your brother, or something?