Sinaia railway station serves the
Sinaia
Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...
mountain resort
A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or sceni ...
in
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
. The first station was built in 1913 by the Demeter Cartner Company, and it was reserved exclusively for the
Royal Family
A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family.
The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...
and its guests at
Peleș Castle
Peleș Castle ( ) is a Neo-Renaissance palace in the Royal Domain of Sinaia in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914 ...
, generally foreign leaders.
Located on the railway line connecting
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
and
Ploiești
Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest.
The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...
to
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County.
According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
and the rest of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, the train station serves the
Căile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on 1 October 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. CFR as an entity existed from 1880, even though the first ra ...
lines
200
Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 200 for this y ...
,
300
__NOTOC__
Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...
, and
400
__NOTOC__
Year 400 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...
.
Memorials
On the station platform, there is a memorial plate marking the spot where
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Ion G. Duca
Ion Gheorghe Duca (; 20 December 1879 – 29 December 1933) was a Romanian liberal politician, diplomat, and lawyer who briefly served as Prime Minister from November to December 1933. A leading figure in the National Liberal Party, Duca hel ...
was assassinated by the
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
in 1933.
A second memorial plaque was erected in 1999 to mark the celebrations then held to mark 120 years of the Ploiești to Brașov railway line.
New ceremonial station
The second Ceremonial Railway Station is a short distance away from the first one, built following the plans of architect
Duiliu Marcu in 1939. It is designed in a modern Neoclassical style, featuring an arcaded porch on both sides, and is constructed of rustic random stone blocks. Originally displaying the
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...
coat of arms, it has remained in use as a ceremonial station for state occasions and guests. Its single platform is continuous with platform 1 of the original (and now public) railway station. The building also featured a depot housing the Royal Train.
In front of the ceremonial station there is a large plaza designed with the purpose of holding official welcome ceremonies for various foreign leaders. The main room is decorated with a wall painting (5.50 meters x 5.50 meters) depicting a
boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
hunt of Prince
Basarab I of Wallachia
Basarab I (), also known as Basarab the Founder (; – 1351/1352), was a ''voivode'' and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the . Many details of his life are uncertain. According to two popular theo ...
(eight life-size characters on horseback, alongside an inscription in Latin reading ''Basarab
Voivode
Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
, 14th century'').
The ceremonial station's purpose was retained during the
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
. A presidential train brought American President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
and Romanian President
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
here on August 6, 1975. It is not open to the public.
Exhibitions

The main railway station, originally constructed with a large booking hall and extensive offices, now features additional attractions.
The northern part of the station building has been transformed into a model railway exhibition, which is open to the public most days. Beyond the model exhibition, several static displays of railway memorabilia are exhibited on the platform, including the 230 series
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...
steam locomotive number 230.039, built in 1907 at the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
LINCKE HOFMAN works with the production number 1017/1907. This locomotive, which served from 1907 to 1978, was used for passenger trains, express freight, and shunting operations, mainly in the Banat and Transylvania regions, achieving speeds of up to 100 km/h. In 2000, it was designated part of the
National Cultural Heritage under the treasure category. The locomotive is displayed alongside the tender of its sister engine, 230.050.
1948
Škoda VOS draisine, a motor car adapted for railway track inspection duties, equipped with
flanged wheels. It is known as the “machine with train wheels,” was famously used by the feared
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
leader
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's List of Romanian Foreign Ministers, foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world' ...
, as well as other high-ranking communist officials, for travel across the country. It was heavily
armored, and the shattered
windshield
The windshield (American English and Canadian English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from t ...
is said to be the result of an
assassination attempt just before 1950, where an unknown assailant used an automatic weapon in an attempt to kill Ana Pauker. Despite the impressive thickness of the glass, it could not withstand the barrage of bullets. The vehicle, which resembles a car but is as robust as a tank and moves like a train, is a unique piece among Romania’s railway vehicles. In its prime, the railcar could easily exceed 100 km/h, had a luxurious interior, was powered by a motor exceeding 5000 cubic centimeters, and weighed 5000 kilograms.
Gallery
All photos were taken before 2010. The station was reconstructed between 2009 and 2011.
Image:sinaiatrainstation.jpg, Platforms 2 and 3, seen from platform 1
Image:sinaiatrainstation2.jpg, Looking north from platform 1
Image:sinaiatrainstation3.jpg, Looking south from platform 1
Image:sinaiatrainstation4.jpg, Platform 1 and the main station building as seen from platform 2
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinaia Railway Station
Sinaia
Buildings and structures in Prahova County
Railway stations in Romania opened in 1913