Global InformationRail transport in Romania information
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The first railway in the Kingdom of Romania opened in 1869 and linked Bucharest and Giurgiu. The first railway on electric current in the current Romanian territory opened in 1854, between Oravița and Baziaș in Banat, right next to the border with Serbia; however, that region was under the administration of the Austrian Empire at the time, and became part of Romania after World War I.[citation needed]
Since then, the Romanian railway network has been significantly expanded, and is now the fourth largest in Europe by total track length, comprising 22,298 km (13,855 mi).[1] Of these, some 8,585 km (5,334 mi) are electrified. The route length is 10,788 km (6,703 mi).[2] Romania's railway system is inadequately-connected and one of the least durable railway systems globally.[3][4][5][6]
Romania is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Romania is 53.
- ^ "Reteaua feroviara" (in Romanian). cfr.to. Archived from the original on 2009-06-08. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
- ^ "CIA - the World Factbook -- Field Listing :: Railways". www.cia.gov. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ Secretariat of the European Parliament, Directorates-General, Romania's general transport master plan and rail system, retrieved on 17 December 2018. Archived at the Wayback machine "It comprises more than 1,000 stations, almost 200 tunnels and around 6,800 bridges. It is also in an advanced state of disrepair due to a chronic lack of maintenance: most of the track-related assets are on their last legs...According to the draft General Transport Master Plan about 65% of the track, 80% of the turnouts, 85% of the overhead catenary, 66% of the embankments and 40% of the bridges would require renewal. According to the Ministry of Transport 70% of rolling stock is outdated."
- ^ Duta, Luminița. Computer-Based Decision Support for Railroad Transportation Systems: an Investment Case Study, Research Gate, retrieved on 17 December 2018. Archived at the wayback machine. "After 1989, Romania inherited one of the largest, very dense, and frequently-utilized railway networks in Europe, which has, at the same time, a relatively outdated and partially worn-out infrastructure. This situation, combined with the economic decline that Romania faced in the 1990s due to its transition to a market economy, resulted in CFR entering in a period of noticeable relative decline. In the early 2000s, CFR started on a comprehensive modernisation program with a view to improving its quality of services and image."
- ^ Barbu, Paul. Romania ranks last in the EU in terms of railway quality, Romania Business Review, retrieved on 9 June 2019. Archived at the wayback machine. "Romania ranks in the last place among the European Union member state in terms of railway infrastructure quality, according to Octavian Udriște, honorary president of Club Feroviar. ‘We are all trying to convince the authorities to support the railroad, because we are in the last place in Europe. Everybody says it, and the scoreboard published by DG MOVE (European Commission’s Directorate General for Transport) ranks 28th on all the analyzed transport systems –rail, road, naval, air, and public transport– with 30 criteria, and points: we are on the last place. With rail infrastructure we have won two seats, we are 26th, because Malta and Cyprus have no railways,’ Udriște said. ‘I do have to remind you that in 30 years we did not electrify a kilometre of railway, that the pace of modernisation is slow, that at this rhythm only for Corridor IV it still takes about 15 years, and for the entire TEN-T Comprehensive network, the Rhine-Danube network, almost 5,500 kilometres, takes nearly 200 years,’ he estimated."
- ^ Newsroom. Featured - "Railway reform": Destroy half of the national railroad network and fire 10,000 people, Romania Business Review, retrieved on 9 June 2019. Archived at the wayback machine. "Romania’s Government issued a memorandum regarding 'methods of increasing efficiency in the country’s railway system'. The document represents a necessity for the Transport Master Plan which has already been approved by the Executive. The memo includes drastic measures such as eliminating several routes spanning 4,000 km and reducing the national rail-network to just 6,200 km. Among the routes that could be closed down there is București-Oltenița, Galați-Bârlad and Iași-Botoșani, leaving tens of communes and villages isolated.."