With those 10 billion euros, Romania has managed to modernise 600 kilometres of railways. Another 900 kilometres of works are ongoing with an estimated value of 6 billion euros.

That is a lot of work that is still underway, but Staicu is happy about the point Romania is about to reach. After all these years, major investments are reaching their ‘delivery moment’.

“That’s quite an important milestone in our activity, because all of society, the European Union and so on only look at completed investments. No one is keen on hearing that you struggle, or you have issues, or you found out that you need to modify some laws internally or regulations. Everyone is looking for that missing connection or bottleneck that is making everyone spend days or weeks without moving their freight and passengers”, says Staicu.

TEN-T and Constanța

EU funding has primarily been directed towards the TEN-T network and associated corridors in Romania, specifically the Rhine-Danube corridor and the newly created Baltic-Black Sea-Aegean corridor. Over 80% of investments have gone toward completing these corridors, with a major focus on the Rhine-Danube corridor’s main axis, linking the west (Curtici) to Constanța.

Staicu highlights two projects on this axis that are close to completion. “We have works ongoing between Brașov and Sighișoara with two big tunnels now being drilled. The expectation is for it to be completed in 2028. In the meantime, the status is around 98-99% from Sighișoara to Simeria and further on.”

The overarching goal of these projects is to allow freight and passengers alike to move across Romania quickly. The Black Sea and Romania’s biggest asset, the Port of Constanța, play a central role in this idea. The latter has seen substantial investments in its links with the broader rail network.

As a result, it could serve as a more attractive entry point for goods into Europe. This holds especially true, considering that it is the largest and deepest container port in the Black Sea. It therefore also occupies a key position on the Middle Corridor from China to Europe.

An approach in stages

Multimodality (linking different transport modes) and energy efficiency (including extensive electrification and introducing new technologies) are current priorities to ensure the network supports economic growth, explains Staicu. The Danube river also offers opportunities for better multimodal connectivity to the European hinterland – which is why Romania is working on an extensive dredging programme to secure year-round navigability.

EU funding has greatly helped Romania to implement these projects. However, money does not grow on trees and is in limited supply. Budgetary constraints exert a restricting effect on infrastructure works. While Romania tries to comply with all TEN-T standards (160 kilometres per hour for passenger trains, 22.5-tonne axle load, 740-metre train length, electrification, and ERTMS), implementing all of this is not always financially feasible.

As a result, the approach has recently shifted to tackling TEN-T standards in different stages of implementation. By prioritising the most critical infrastructure works, like axle load and electrification, Romania aims to meet the minimum interoperability standards first. These factors are must-haves for a train to be able to enter the network from neighbouring countries and to make unhindered cross-border traffic possible.

“Today we are opening the construction process of an important project – the creation of the first European-gauge track from Chop to Uzhhorod. This project will also provide us with new logistical opportunities for freight transportation, and will relieve traffic checkpoints. Uzhhorod is becoming the first regional centre to be connected to Europe by a European-gauge railway”, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

European integration

Ukrainian Railways aims to finish the track within fourteen months. It will cost 31 million euros. The EU will cover half of the total costs of the project, after a bid by Ukrainian Railways won a selection competition.

Earlier, the EU and European Investment Bank developed a plan for rail integration between the EU and Moldova and Ukraine. The plan ultimately envisions a complete European gauge railway network in both countries.

As part of the efforts to improve rail connectivity between Ukraine and the EU, Ukraine started building a European-gauge track between Lviv and Poland earlier this year. According to the head of Ukrainian Railways, the company may extend the Uzhhorod track to Lviv at a later stage. This would allow Lviv to be connected with both the TEN-T Mediterranean corridor and the Rhine-Danube corridor.

Additionally, Ukraine and Poland have been looking to extend a broad gauge line further into Poland to streamline incoming rail traffic from Ukraine, and Ukraine has been building an intermodal terminal on the border with Romania to ease agricultural exports.

Also read:

• New Romanian rail terminal on Ukraine border starts testing operations
• PKP LHS transports record freight volume between Poland and Ukraine
• Ukrainian Railways is planning to launch 18 new European routes

There will be one departure every day, with Helrom claiming that the train can run from Regensburg to Lébény and back in 24 hours. Each train will transport 36 trailers placed on 18 wagons, meaning that 72 trucks are being removed from the road every day. This initiative is part of the Herlom Trailer Rail project. Over a year ago, the company received 15 million euros from the German federal government to create a European network where it could deploy its technology.

Helrom

Helrom’s technology allows for the transport of non-cranable semi-trailers on the railways without the need for a loading and unloading facility. In other words, truck trailers can be loaded on the wagons right next to the rail track without the need for terminals. All that is needed for this procedure is, in fact, an asphalted surface next to the track, making it easier and significantly cheaper to carry out such operations.

Also read:

• UPS puts parcels on rail with CargoBeamer
• DHL’s cargo tram service in German city gets scrapped
• Semi-trailers lead Germany’s modal shift