People travelling to Hungary by train are still subject to waiting times at Romanian-Hungarian rail border crossings.
Romania became a full Schengen Zone member on January 1, 2025, abolishing land border controls, while air and sea border controls were lifted in March 2024, Schengen.News reports.
According to a report from Kronika Online, a trip from Timisoara, near the southern borders with Romania, to Budapest takes nearly six and a half hours.
A traveler from Timisoara said that before Schengen accession he had to wait for an hour and a half at the Romanian-Hungarian border. During that period of time, the border police checked travel documents and carried out a technical inspection. The man finds it frustrating to have to wait the same amount of time after Schengen accession, Hungary Today explains.
The man from Timisoara, Flavius Sebastian, who often travels to Budapest said that the train at the Kürtös-Lőkösháza border crossing point was at a standstill for an hour and a half.
However, he said that the locomotive changeover takes no more than 15 minutes.
In addition, between Timișoara and Arad, the train only runs at 20 kilometres an hour due to track renewal. From Arad to Kürtös, it runs at 130 km/h, and in Hungary, there is no problem either, the electric locomotives run at 120 km/h.
Waiting Times to Be Reduced Once a Solution Is Found, CFR Said
When asking for an explanation from the National Railway Company (CFR), the passenger received the following answer:
The state railway company said that the train timetable is updated once a year and that the current one was decided at the beginning of December, when at the time the EU Home Affairs Council had not yet made a decision on Romania’s (and Bulgaria’s) Schengen accession.
CFR told the passenger that the wait time at the following crossing points: Episcopia Bihor (Biharpüspöki), Curtici (Kürtös), Valea lui Mihai (Érmihályfalvi), and Giurgiu (Gyurgyevó) comes as a result of locomotive replacement as well as technical controls.
According to Sebastian, CFR also said that as soon as a possible solution to shorten the time is found, it will be taken into consideration.
In February 2025, the Romanian border police, through a statement said that in January 2025, a total of 260,000 border checks were carried out in Romania.
The Romanian border police also said that in its first month of full Schengen accession, about 140 crimes and more than 100 offences were registered.
