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Tonight, I’m taking you on the longest sleeper train journey in the Caucasus region: the seasonal 18-hour trip from Batumi across Georgia to Tbilisi, before turning south and crossing into Armenia to reach the capital, Yerevan.
We’ll be travelling in a private First Class compartment aboard a modern Russian-built sleeper carriage, complete with showers and plenty of modern amenities.
So join me for this epic overnight journey across the Caucasus!
CONTACT: (business inquiries only): hello@intercitysimon.com
Not Business? Hit me up in the comments or on Bluesky 😉
Train type: VL10 + Tver Sleeper Carriages
Route: Batumi – Tbilisi – Yerevan
Train: 201
Distance: 717 km
Journey time: 18h14m
Average speed: 39 km/h
Price: 73760 AMD ~ 168€
00:00 Intro
00:35 Batumi
02:03 New Russian Sleeper Train
02:45 Boarding
03:05 Compartment Options
03:40 Departure
04:28 Route Map
05:03 Black Sea Coast
05:20 Kobuleti Ghost Train?
05:50 Single-Track Shenanigans
06:25 Ureki
06:58 Room Tour
08:40 The Sad State of Georgia’s Railway
09:25 Skipping Kutaisi?
10:05 The Likhi Mountains (Incredible Scenery)
10:32 Small Local Trains
10:55 The Brand-New Mountain Tunnel
11:10 The Incredible Old Mountain Pass
11:55 Khashuri Junction
12:30 Dinner Options (Ex-USSR Style)
13:08 Shower and Toilet Review
14:00 Converting the Room to Bed Mode
14:30 Long Stop in Tbilisi
15:15 Goodnight, Round 1
15:40 Georgian Border Crossing
16:00 Armenian Border Crossing
16:35 Armavir, Armenia
17:05 Breakfast
17:30 Tickets and My Thoughts
18:05 Yerevan Arrival
#Travel #Trains #TripReport
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Tack för en trevlig film. Du gör nog några av de bästa järnvägsfilmerna på YouTube.
ARMENIA MENTIONED!!! great video:))
This is not a clone of Russian Railways. This train belongs to and is being operated by South Caucasian Railways (acronym ЮКЖД, that was shown in video many times) of Russian Railways (RZD) according to an Armenian-Russian intergoverment concession. Generally, Armenian railways is a shame of RZD due to the extremely poor state, and this train just a rare and relatively recent exception.
Caucasus Georgia is better rail country than 'Murican Georgia
1:45 originally built for aeroexpress services in moscow.
I had a ride on this train between yerevan and tbilisi and back in may 2023. It was a nice experience even with border crossing at night.
Aaaah, beautiful Cockasus.
Great review as always! Would love to see more Asian trains in this channel!
Fantastic video Simon Channel! A very beautiful ride, albeit a long. Would love to go back to Georgia and try it one day 😊
Great video as always Steve. Have you ever thought about getting the scotland rail rover ticket that allows you all around Scotland including some buses. Would be interesting to see how much of Scotland you could visit in the time available.
Seems nice to take a 18 hours train, but border crossings seems nightmarish
The station interior is like an hospital
The Georgian authorities should stamp you out when you leave your last city. No need to wait for the border itself if the train doesn’t stop before it gets there. And Armenia could even have a way to stamp you in when leaving the last city in Georgia.
Great! I took the same train 8 years ago… Batumi to Yerevan. However the train then was still an old style one. It was like time travel to the Soviet Era! Thanks for sharing!
Actually going on this train in November for my honeymoon.. better make sure we have thick jackets for the 1 hour queue on the platform at the border. My 'lucky' (future) wife 😂
The price is very high
12:34 when I travelled in Ukraine, locals were selling fresh food on almost every station.. not here I guess?
1:13 terribly bad signage/wayfinding …
perchè il controllo in uscita dalla georgia non è effettuato sul treno??
non commento il pranzo!!!
Wow what a lovely journey.
I'd never travel in something russian…
These look more like a modernized and brushed up soviet-style carriages. Even though they have modern amenities, the base construction still reminds me of sleeper trains we traveled on a couple decades ago. Hardly a surprise, given who built these things. Also, I saw a glimpse of RVR ER2 passing by, the original model by the looks. These are museum pieces, I wonder how they still keep them running after so many years.
Tak for turen Simon.
Herlig tur! Tak, Simon 💯
Finally Something other than europe ❤
What alphabet is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.
Figures … russian trains, a dull, boring, soulless grey
Holy Molly! 18 hours!
I rode this train a few years ago, but back then it started in Tbilisi, so we had to catch the GR train from Batumi. On the return journey, we took a very interesting A321 flight with Armenian Airways from Yerevan to Batumi airport.
It just goes to show the sad state of affairs in the Caucasus. A locomotive built in 1969 when Brezhnev was running the Soviet Union, with a top speed of 100 km/h? Gee whiz! Revolutionary, comrade!
Despite being built relatively recently. Batumi Central unfortunately looks and feels Soviet. At 1:37–1:46 you can see that Soviet-style shoddiness in construction. At 4:09 Makhinjauri is a much more attractive, modern-looking station.
Kars-Tbilis-Baku is next?
I travelled in third class on this train twice. Seeing your experience in 1st class, makes 3rd class look like slum
Great video
Nice video 👍