Court blocks Bucharest’s railway link to the airport, challenged by billionaire Ion Tiriac

The Bucharest Court of Appeal suspended on Friday, October 11, the construction of the railway line linking Bucharest’s main train station to the Henri Coanda International Airport in Otopeni, according to Money.ro.

The railway link was supposed to be completed by June next year and ensure the transport of the fans who will come to Bucharest for the EURO 2020 from the airport to the city. The airport is currently connected to the city only through an express bus line.

Billionaire Ion Tiriac, who is also president of the Romanian Tennis Federation, and several other investors in Otopeni challenged the project in court, in September this year, arguing that the new railway line would hurt the investments they have already made in the area and their development plans.

Tiriac has built an ice-skating rink in Otopeni and plans to open a tennis academy in partnership with Ilie Nastase. His plans also include an Olympic swimming pool and a gymnastics hall, plus a campus for students. He says that the new railway makes it impossible for him to develop these projects, according to gsp.ro.

Several other investors in the area complained about the railway line passing very close to their properties. One of them is Comtel Focus, the company that owns the angelo Airport Hotel in Otopeni.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision is enforceable, so work on the project was stopped. However, the decision can be appealed. If the appeal is rejected, work could be stopped until the court decides if the project can go on or must be stopped for good.

Work on the railway link to the airport started in early September. The contract was awarded in June to a consortium of companies made of Arcada Company SA, ISPCF SA, and DB Engineering & Consulting GMBH, for RON 398 million (EUR 84 mln) plus VAT. The project includes the construction of almost 3 kilometers of double railway plus a 1.5-kilometer viaduct that will pass over DN1, the busiest road in Romania. On this viaduct, trains would pass 7.5 meters above ground.

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