Bucharest-Chisinau train formations

[AdamWW]

According to Vagonweb (and supported by CFR's booking engine), the Bucharest to Chisinau overnight train has a couple of open CFR coaches as far as Iași, but from there to Ungheni Prut it's replaced with a single compartment coach.

If this is real, does anybody know why? It seems most odd.

When I had a go, the CFR booking engine refused to sell a through ticket between Bucharest and Ungheni Prut claiming the train was sold out. It clearly wasn't as I could book the individual legs, so presumably it wasn't happy because it couldn't book a single seat all the way.

 

[Segedunum]

The single carriage actually runs through to Ungheni on the Moldovan side - I watched it arriving last year while I was hoisted up in the air in the Moldovan carriages getting the wheelsets changed to Standard Gauge.

It seemed like a pretty battered carriage (albeit with a good few people on) so one can only assume the single carriage is a) to minimise the area to be inspected by customs (Moldovan customs in particular are rather keen) and to avoid sending anything too fancy over the border

 

[AdamWW]

The single carriage actually runs through to Ungheni on the Moldovan side

Ah yes. I did know that but got confused by the way the main CFR web site shows international trains as if they just finish at the last station in Romania.

There can't be many trains that lose carriages and gain one like this that aren't coming from or going to somewhere else. (Unless perhaps they are, but it doesn't look like it).

 

[superalbs]

The train ran Chisinau-Ungheni with the UZ train to Kyiv last night, featuring two locos and both rakes.