PM Orban: We want to rebuild all the important railways, by using European funds

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Tuesday said that Romania will use European funds to rebuild all the important railways in the country.

He participated, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport, in the signing of the agreement for the rehabilitation of the Brasov-Simeria railway line, part of the Rhine - Danube Corridor, for the maximum speed of 160 km/h, the Brasov-Sighisoara section, and the 2 Apata-Cata subsection.

"With the signing of the agreement for this section, we have basically signed the construction agreement for all the railway sections on the main pan-European corridor, the connection between Brasov and Curtici. From the pan-European Corridor IV, from Constanta to Curtici, it remains only one section to be built, the Predeal-Brasov section. All the other sections have either been finalized or under construction, and I am talking now about the modernization of the railway to reach European standards, allowing speeds up to 160 km/h in the case of passenger trains and up to 120 km/h for the transport of goods, on a double, electrified line," said the Prime Minister.

According to Orban, this section is an "extremely complicated" one, with a high value.

"We will take advantage of the massive funding that Romania will benefit from in the next period and our goal is to rehabilitate all the important railway routes," he said.

The Prime Minister stated that, regarding the railway route on the Pan-European Corridor IX, from Ploiesti to the eastern border, there are already agreements in place for the production of technical and economic documentation for all sections.

"We will introduce them in the multiannual financial year because there is a priority at European level in terms of transport strategy, rail transport being considered a priority transport because it provides safety, speed and is environmentally friendly. Also on the section. Bucharest-Craiova-Turnu Severin-Caransebes-Timisoara-Arad railway, except for the Bucharest- Craiova section, we are in the phase of issuing the technical-economic documentation on all sections, from Craiova to the western border, and the most advanced sections "This part of the railway will also be modernized to the standards we want," said Ludovic Orban.

He added that the auction procedure is underway, after the approval of the technical-economic documentation, for the signing of the design and construction agreement on the section Cluj Napoca-Oradea-Episcopia Bihor, which will aim at modernization and electrification.

The government is also considering the connection between Bucharest and Giurgiu, through the reconstruction of the Gradita Bridge on a new route, Orban added.

"The sign of the impotence of the previous governments is the Gradistea Bridge, which was destroyed by floods, if I remember correctly, and which has not been repaired until today. We are considering the rebuilding of the Gradistea Bridge, of course, on a new route, which resulted from the technical-economic documentation, so as to ensure the direct connection between Giurgiu and Bucharest, I hope, in this financial year, that CFR SA will be equipped with technological trains so that we can have the ability to make repairs on routes that are not necessarily on the rail corridors. The certainty is that the development of railway infrastructure is a priority for us, and the railway must become what it once was, support for economic development, as are all the others. investment in infrastructure" said Prime Minister Orban.