No matter the operational and development problems of the European and Wider Black Sea Area railway system, one cannot but think about the victims of the recent tragic accidents in France and Spain, people who fell victims to the errors of a system which, in fact, is the safest existing transport mode. Investigations are still underway and I am convinced that the specialists will identify the causes of the accidents and the solutions so that we could safely and trustfully enter a rail station. Especially in the case of the Spain derailment which extends the list of the accidents on high-speed lines, we realize that this system is still “young” and confronted with many technical challenges which have to be analysed and remedied, where necessary. Because, if not, tendentious comments, such as those of my countrymen which I’ve read recently (lucky that we don’t have high-speed trains so that there are no victims) can become a general way of thinking.
And this fatalist comment leads me to the everyday existence of the railways on the eastern frontier of the European Union. One cannot but grieve at so much lack of growth vision in a country such as Romania. A year or so ago, as I went to the European Commission as head of the national railway passenger transport operator, I felt hurt when the European authorities explained to me that an activity such as that represented by myself could not be supported to buy modern train at low operating costs despite the presented plans, because there was no national and regional mobility strategy to demand it and no upgraded infrastructure.
Initially I thought it was a lack of commitment towards the railway modernisation and passenger attraction policies, but then I thought things through and realized that they were perfectly right. The transport and mobility strategy is still not on the agenda of the ministry of transport and mandatory public service obligations leave it to the operator to choose its routes, frequencies and quality of services (the ministry of transport only submits the contract to the government’s approval). At the same time, the infrastructure is slowly sliding on the steep cliff of destruction being ignored by both the politicians who should understand this activity and by the “experts” in the company which manage the national railway infrastructure. The railway which links Bucharest to the port-city of Constanța (220 km), where works are carried out since 2005, has not yet been commissioned and the excuse was that rail safety components have been stolen. At the same time, nobody seems to find a solution to these thefts and therefore, services lack punctuality and safety. The bridge on the line that links Bucharest to Bulgaria and Turkey is collapsed since the floods in 2005 and has not been repaired so far. The bypass is three times longer and has led to the cancellation of services and additional costs for operators and customers. Recently, the Romanian and Bulgarian authorities have inaugurated the “Europe Bridge”, the second bridge across the Danube which links Romania and Bulgaria. However, the modernisation of the railway connection in Romania is scheduled to be financed after 2020 (unless other priorities arise in the meantime) preventing the turning into account of the investment. Although Corridor IV is not finalized and works on Corridor IX have not even been initiated, the minister of transport has identified a new priority (a highway worth EUR 9 Billion which link two county capitals with a total population under 800,000 people), leaving projects with European funds without co-financing or abandoning metro projects to endless delays.
by Ştefan Roşeanu
Share on:
