DB Schenker: faster by bike than by train in Romania

Romania’s deficient railway, road and naval infrastructure is the country’s greatest disadvantage, said Albin Budinsky, general manager of merchandise transport and logistics firm DB Schenker. “In the railway system, the speed for freight trains is of 25 km per hour. Which means it’s faster to reach Bucharest from Arad by bicycle than by freight train,” he said, quoted by Ziarul Financiar. Romania has only 600 km of highways, and in Austria there are 1,800 km of highways, and the lack of good infrastructure in Romania affects every player in the transport segment. “We’ve learned in school that car transport is fast and that train transport is cheap. In Romania, it turns out car transport is slow, and train rides are expensive. I think a solution would be to privatize state – owned transport companies,” added Budinsky. DB Schenker has a yearly turnover of EUR 82 million in Romania, and is owned by Deutsche Bahn AG. editor@romania-insider.com