Targoviste railway station

April 10, 2013

Targoviste railway station is the way in and out of my hometown. It was first opened to the public on January 2nd, 1884. The rail system has connections to the capital city of Romania, Bucharest, and 3 other small towns from nearby (Ploiesti, Titu and Pietrosita).

In the pictures at the end of this article you can see how the station used to look, as opposed to the present.

I remember the first time my grandfather took me to the train station. It was amazing for a 5 year-old like me. Back then, the trains used to scare me, and I was afraid that the screeching of the breaks, when the train stopped in the station, was going to make me deaf. It was a little bit terrifying. Of course, by the time I finished high school and started my commute to Bucharest every other week, my fears vanished.

I also remember the times when, on my way to Bucharest, I used to put my earphones on and listen to music just to pass the time; and watch the sun go down as I approached my destination. Those were some of the best times.

I remember all the times I used to wait on the platform for the train to arrive and bring special people with it (some more special than others), and I can never forget the feeling I used to get whenever I saw the locomotive taking that curve just before entering the station.

But all this changed the day I came to Targoviste to get my new car. That was the last time I took the train home. Even though I now appreciate the comfort and I have the freedom of coming or leaving whenever I want, I kind of miss those old battered trains taking me, as a young student, to Bucharest (the Promised Land, as I used to see it). They had a certain something to them, they were "old school" ...

Maybe I will take the train one day and go to Bucharest, just for the fun of it - but I'm sure that it would not feel the same. Because 6 years ago, that train was a way to better things, the train of dreams waiting for me in Bucharest. Now, it would be a simple train, a simple way of commute from one place to another. The magic of it all is now gone...

Nevertheless, there is one song that rings in my head when I think of the Targoviste train station and those trains.

It is an old Romanian folklore melody. It's about an old lady who is coming to her son's wedding and she is waiting in a train station, all alone, until she is greeted by her daughter-in-law. The train station where the action is happening is right here, on the platform of the Tarogivste railway station.

And listening to that song, I know that this place, as well as my hometown, will never be forgotten.

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