Trams market in Romania

Until railway operators will launch major rolling stock acquisitions delayed because of the lack of funds, trams will be the newest railway vehicles to be running in Romania. Several of the cities which own a tram network have already announced their intention to give up the traditional second hand acquisition and to buy new and modern trams.

Urban rail transport is one of the most attractive segments of the Romanian railway market. Romania has maintained a complex urban rail infrastructure network with 13 cities that own tram networks and an underground network in Bucharest. Most of these cities develop tram infrastructure rehabilitation projects and many of them obtain non-reimbursable funding from the European structural funds.

Acquisition projects

Several cities have also announced projects for the extension of the infrastructure to develop links to recently built industrial or residential centres. In this context, but also due to the increasing mobility need in the urban area, the rolling stock fleet which currently counts for around 1,300 vehicles, is expected to enter the same modernisation process. Nowadays, most acquisitions focus on second-hand products bought, mainly, from German, Swiss or Dutch cities.
The only exceptions are the city of Oradea, which in 2007 bought 10 new ULF trams from Siemens and Cluj, which in 2012 signed a contract for the acquisition of 12 trams from PESA. Bucharest periodically exploits the Bucur Low Floor trams, upgraded by URAC, repair plant owned by transport operator RATB. Cities such as Timişoara and Arad have also launched the initial procedures for the launch of the acquisition projects. Timişoara Local Council has recently approved the contracting of a loan of up to EUR 50 Million for the acquisition of new trams and the modernisation of a depot and Arad will receive a loan of EUR 9 Million from EBRD for a similar project. Tenders are expected as soon as 2012.

Romanian tram industry

In Romania, trams were manufactured in the centres from Timişoara, Arad, Craiova and Bucharest. In the past 20 years, the active centres have been the repair plants of the transport operators since the acquisition of new rolling stock has been stopped.
In Bucharest, RATB’s repair plant URAC began the production of trams in 1949 and currently develops the Bucur LF, a multi-body 60% low-floor tram which has electrostatic and regenerative braking.
One of the methods through which the Romanian industry can relaunch local tram production is by collaborating with major international companies which own know-how and modern technologies.

Partnerships with international companies

Astra Vagoane Călători signed a partnership with Siemens for the manufacturing of a tram called Imperio. The prototype has already been presented in Arad. URAC has joined the two companies for the production of the same tram, this time for a standard gauge (the tram gauge in Arad is 1000 mm). Other companies are also interested in manufacturing trams. According to declarations of Remar Paşcani board, it is possible for the company to buy a license and develop a tram production line, its potential market being the municipality of Iaşi.

Club Feroviar is a strategic consultancy company activating as an integrated communication platform addressed to railway organisations, multimodal transport and public transport.
In 2012, the company elaborated a market report on railway passenger transport providing statistical data about current situations, evolutions, tendencies and prognoses. The report analyses the railway passenger operation, including data about companies, the situation of licenses, the rolling stock fleet and acquisition projects, but also on the Romanian railway industry with details about important companies and the production of different vehicles and railway equipments.