The four-car train, which seats 267 passengers in first, second and third class accommodation, will complete the 283km journey in 5h 15min, a 15-minute improvement on current timings.

The extensive rebuild includes new cabs, installation of air-conditioning and new Volvo Penta Tad1662VE engines, and is being carried out by Remar at is workshops in Pascani, Romania. Remar will modernise 14 trains at a cost of €2.2m per set.

The D1Ms were originally supplied by Ganz-Mavag, Hungary, in 1986 and classified D1 prior to rebuilding.