The recently held event, Railway Days – the Railway Investment Summit in the Wider Black Sea Area – has debated an up-to-date topic in Eastern Europe: building high-speed lines. The objective of the European Commission is to triple the existing high-speed network by 2030 and therefore, several high-speed lines have been included on the maps on the future TEN-T configuration in Eastern Europe to the Union’s borders.
Although at international level, there is absolutely no doubt that the European Union needs such transport axes capable to carry a large number of people between big cities in just hours, things are not quite so clear at national level. It is not yet clear whether high-speed is actually necessary, how high should speeds be or when do we actually need high-speed. For countries confronted with serious problems regarding the maintenance of the conventional network, taking about the implementation of a high-speed line is rather defiant.
The Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has announced its intention of launching the high-speed project this year by elaborating a pre-feasibility study that would set, among others, the route of the high-speed line. The European Commission has already accepted the idea of a line on the route West-East, from the Hungarian border to Constanţa, a Black Sea port, but this single route would avoid important cities with more than 300,000 citizens. It will be much more interesting to create links to Serbia and Bulgaria, as well, with a line that in the end would reach Istanbul, as these links would ensure a higher profitability of the project. The conclusion is that we don’t need a high-speed line, we need a high-speed network. However, the billions of Euros to be invested in such a project could rehabilitate the entire Romanian conventional network making railway transport more attractive and more profitable. Moreover, an efficient conventional network is a success factor for a high-speed network as it can ensure an increased passenger flow from a large area.
So, what do we start with? Confronted with the same questions, the Czechs developed in 2011 a new concept, that of Rapid Services, for the development of a high-speed network in several phases. The first phase concerns speeds of around 200 km/h by using adequate rolling stock and the rehabilitation of certain sections, following the German model. The integration into the European high-speed network by building new lines to permit speeds of 300 km/h would represent the final phase of this plan.
The Master Plan for Transport, a document under elaboration, could come up with a ministerial point of view on what we want from the high-speed in Romania, apart from those expressed by specialists during the Railway Days event. We are also waiting for a point of view from local authorities, but also public polls.
Let’s think positive: using the entire European experience so far, Romania could implement a successful high-speed project. We surely want it, we surely like it, we will surely find the best solution.
by Florentina Ghemuţ
Consultant
Club Feroviar
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