The Romanian Railway Summit, which this year reached its 5th edition, was the linking platform between the transport markets in Southern Europe and the ones in the Caucasus/Central Asia region. Most of these transport markets come from countries with an emerging economy, for which railway freight transport is an advantage. In order to reach these objectives, it is necessary to revise the operational and technical aspects by transposing the national centre of gravity and strategies at trans-national level.
The Romanian Railway Summit was organised by Club Feroviar, together with the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF) and CODATU (Cooperation for urban mobility in the developing world), in Bucharest, during October 5-6, 2010. This year’s edition was entitled “Towards a profitable railway sector in the Wider Black Sea Area” and has as main objective the analysis and evaluation of ample strategies that may lead to the development of a “Wider Black Sea Area” focused on rail transport, where traffic between West and East (between Europe and Asia) will be improves in terms of speed and efficiency. Attending the session on „The role of the political factor in developing the Eurasian railway platform”, CER Executive Director Johannes Ludewig criticised the lack of involvement of the political factor in developing an efficient and competitive railway system, which could give Romania an equal position alongside the countries located on TEN-T priority corridors. „The financial support that the Romanian Government allocated for the railway sector is below European standards. The situation of the Romanian railway sector has become critical. The investments reflect the priorities”, said Johannes Ludewig, sending out an alarm signal towards the decision-makers and underlining that this situation cannot go on.
Romania has to prioritize Corridors IV and IX
Johannes Ludewig outlined the fact that a railway system cannot be rehabilitated or modernised only by using European funds available through SOP-T, but by actively involving railway companies and decision-makers. The lack of projects in the Romanian railway sector was another issue approached by Johannes Ludewig, who said that this matter represents a „minus” when it comes to the possibility of building a sure future for the Romanian railway sector. „Every country in the European Union is different and that is why they should have their own strategies and ideas and only then rely on European support. However, this support should not replace the support of every national government, but only accelerate the modernisation process”, added Ludewig. “The Eurasian platform is very important for the economic development of this region and this could have a positive impact on the transport sector. If we were to define the future role of rail transport, we can notice that it has a major contribution in the economic development between Asia and Europe, added Ludewig. Johannes Ludewig outlined the fact that, in order to develop an efficient rail transport system, both railway companies and decision-makers should become more involved. „We need political support not only in nice speeches, but also in reality. All those involved in the railway sector should show their commitment for the development of this mode of transport; they should come up with viable projects and then ask for political support. Moreover, Romania has to open as soon as possible its section of Pan-European Corridor IV in order to face the competition with other countries located along European corridors”, concluded Johannes Ludewig. Johannes Ludewig also met with Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Anca Boagiu. On thi occasion, they discussed the severe budget constraints imposed on the Romanian budget by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The loans granted by IMF are available only under strict terms – and often undifferentiated – which require budget cuts and, in the railway sector, these budget cuts cause a significant decrease in the efficiency of the rail infrastructure, traffic and revenues.
by Elena Ilie
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