The current condition of the railway infrastructure, as well as current and future projects aimed at reviving the infrastructure and, implicitly, the freight and passenger railway transport, were the topic of intense discussions during the Railway Days 2011 Summit “Relocation of manufacturing facilities from West to East. Opportunities and challenges for railway transport development in the Wider Black Sea Area”, organised in Bucharest by Club Feroviar and the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF), on 4-5 October. Present at the Summit discussions, the Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Anca Boagiu and Mihai Corduneanu, Deputy executive Manager, European Projects Directorate, CFR SA, talked about the priority projects aimed at modernising the railway infrastructure in Romania, with a special focus on the pan-European Corridor IV.
Therefore, 211 km of railways of the pan-European Corridor IV are finalized at the moment, namely Câmpina – Bucharest (92 km), Bucharest– Fundulea (35 km) and Bucharest North – Bucharest Băneasa and Feteşti – Constanţa (84 km) sections.
Currently, 152 km of railways are in execution, works being estimated at EUR 542.2 Million on sections Predeal – Câmpina (48 km) and Fundulea – Feteşti (104 km).
For 2011-2012 the authorities expect the initiation of modernisation works, following European standards andthe implementation of the ERTMS on different sections of Corridor IV, the 41-km long Curtici – Simeria section (Section 1 – Border – Curtici – km 641), for which the tender procedure of the project is already underway, the 68-km long Simeria – Coşlariu section, estimated at 69.2 km after modernisation and the 99-km long Coşlariu – Sighişoara section. Also, the projects to be launched include the rehabilitation of Danubian ports, Cernavodă – 1.584 m and Feteşti – 970 m. The launch of these projects is scheduled for next year and investments amount to EUR 1.9 Billion.
It is important to say that for the following section Simeria – Coşlariu ( Vinţu de Jos-Simeria, Varianta Podul Mureş Coşlariu – Vinţu de Jos sections) and Coşlariu – Sighişoara (s Sighişoara – Aţel, Aţel – Micăsasa and Micăsasa – Varianta Podul Mureş Coşlariu sections), the companies submitted offers for tbidding execution works, the offers of the companies being analysed by CFR SA who will select the winners of the tenders and then works will be initiated under schedule.
Three sections await the initiation of works on the same Northern Branch of Corridor IV, with feasibility studies to be revised or elaborated. These sections are Curtici – Simeria section (Section 2, km 614 – Gurasada, 102-km long and Section 3, Gurasada – Simeria, 42-km long), Sighişoara – Braşov section with a length of 130-km and Predeal – Braşov, 26.9-km. Works will be initiated on the three sections in 2014 and are due in 2020.
As for the Southern Branch of Corridor IV, CFR SA develops evaluation studies for the elaboration or finalization of feasibility stu-dies. The execution of modernisation works will be carried out on three sections as follows: Section 1 Arad – Timişoara – Caransebeş, 155 km, Section 2 Craiova – Strehaia – Drobeta Turnu Severin – Caransebeş, 226 km and Section 3 Craiova – Calafat, 107 km. For now, financing for these three projects is not ensured and financing demands will be submitted within the SOP-T 2007-2013 or in the next programming period 2014-2020.
The coming projects is good news for all railway transport players, from industry to operation. However, Anca Boagiu underlined the fact that additional and long-run efforts are necessary from the players involved to bring the railways to the optimal competitiveness standards.
“I will not try to dissimulate that after a year of mandate, we still have a lot to discuss about. I have nothing to hide about the current situation of the railway infrastructure. The railways have been “the unwanted child” of transportation. However, railway transport began counting progress and the initiation of rail restructuring programmes has made positive signs visible, after amending the managers’ contracts which now include clear clauses on the level of arrears and budget incomes. CFR SA cut costs by 47%, while CFR Marfă by 65%, while the number of passengers carried by trains increased by 40% compared to last year. Figures show that we can still be optimistic”, declared the Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Anca Boagiu.
“2007 was a crucial moment in railway transport after Romania’s accession to the EU in a complex system where railways plays an important role. But I cannot help but criticise the fact that, all these years, Romania has lost figures. More explicitly, if railway traffic in the EU has increased by 6% in this period, in Romania has dropped by 36%, while the infrastructure degradation was constant”, added Anca Boagiu. The Romanian Minister of Transport also referred to the high-speed project in Romania, “a topic all are sceptical about”. “The pre-feasibility study is currently elaborated so that we could initiate the project. Romania’s economic potential is great and its geographical position permits the development of this railway line”, added the minister.
“A priority of the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is intermodal transport, the integration of inland waterways routes in the railway transport, as well as the sea-railway connection. The actual integration of the railway system into the intermodal transport can be made only through investments and the EUR 2.3 Billion allocated to the railways through cohesion funds for the rail infrastructure development are to be contracted. I know how important is the fact that Romania benefits from a constant financing for investments and infrastructure development”, concluded Minister Anca Boagiu.
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