The Romanian Railway Reform Authority (Autoritatea pentru Reformă Feroviară – ARF) has completed the reassessment of the bid submitted by Pesa Bydgoszcz and signed the contract for the supply of 20 three-car long-distance interregional EMUs. The contract also includes the provision of maintenance and repair services necessary for the operation of these trains. The contract also stipulates an option for 9 additional trains and another 15-year period of maintenance services.
The contract signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, and was attended by the Minister of Transport Sorin Grindeanu, the President of ARF Stefan Roseanu and representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bucharest.
“Pesa vehicles will be the first modern trains for Romanian Railways in over 20 years. What is equally important for us is that these are the last contracts we have to sign as part of the railway package of the National Reconstruction Plan. Funds for all tasks have already been contracted,” the Minister of Transport said.
The total value of the project is RON 1.1 billion (EUR 223.8 million) excluding VAT of which RON 830.4 million (EUR 168 million) is the value of the new rolling stock, while RON 276 million (EUR 55.8 million) represents the maintenance services.
In 2023, ARF selected Pesa to deliver the new electric multiple units but Alstom appealed against the contract award. Following a hearing in the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the National Agency for Public Procurement of Romania (ANAP) issued an unconditional approval for the order declaring the offer submitted by Pesa compliant and designating it as the winning bid.
The new trains will be based on Pesa 654/655 train family which are also delivered Czech private operator RegioJet. The Inter-Regio three-car EMUs will run at a speed of 160 km/h and will provide 192 seats in the 1st and 2nd class. The barrier-free electric multiple units are equipped with traction system at 25kV ac and with Romanian PZB 90 signalling system.
Under the contract, Pesa will provide vehicle maintenance services for which will establish local service centres with the national carrier CFR Calatori. In this respect, Pesa has already signed preliminary agreements with CFR Calatori and CFR SA, the rail infrastructure manager.
The contract is financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), “Component 4 – Sustainable Transport,” and from the state budget. The long-distance interregional EMUs will be put into operation on the rail routes connecting urban centers in Romania.
“The purchase of modern rolling stock using funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is another important step towards the modernisation of rail passenger transport in our country. ARF, as a government agency, is working intensively to obtain additional sources of financing for further investments in this safe and sustainable transport mode,” the President of ARF said.
At the same time, on May 28, 2024, ARF announced the cancellation of the procedure to acquire 12 hydrogen fuel cell-based electric trains after no offers were submitted. This procurement is also intended to be co-financed by the NRRP. ARF cancelled the previous bidding procedure in November 2023 due to non-compliance of the sole offer submitted by the Alstom-Linde Gaz consortium. RON 869 million (EUR 172.23 million) is the total value of the project.
Romania is currently implementing the strategy to modernise the rolling stock which will help attracting more passengers towards rail transport. In April, the Technical-Economic Committee of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure approved the documentations justifying the necessity and opportunity for two new investment objectives covering the procurement of 9 long-distance interregional electric trains RE-IR-2 and the acquisition of 23 new electric locomotives equipped with ERTMS capable of reaching a speed of 160 km/h and pulling up to 16 passenger cars. The next step in preparing the procurement is the adoption of government decisions approving the technical-economic indicators. ARF will submit to ANAP the documentation of acquisition for launching the procedure and receiving offers from interested rolling stock suppliers.
This project is part of the government to renew the passenger rolling stock, a plan which is an advanced stage of procurement covering 66 long-distance electric trains, 62 short-distance electric trains, 16 electric locomotives, and 12 hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units. In preparation are 23 electric locomotives and 60 short-distance electric trains.
In October 2023, the EIB, ARF and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure announced a EUR 470 million financing to support the rolling stock renewal through the acquisition of 62 electric trains. The European Commission has also provided EUR 52 million from the Cohesion Fund to support Romanian rolling stock procurement.
In 2022, ARF and Alstom signed a contract for the supply of 37 EMUs including 17 Coradia Stream units as well as the provision of maintenance services for 15 years.
In January 2024, Alstom also secured a contract to supply 16 four-axle locomotives capable of running at speeds of up to 200 km/h.
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