CFR Călători to receive 12 new electric trains for eastern Romania

Romania’s state railway operator CFR Călători will receive 12 new electric trains, which will connect Bucharest with the largest cities in the country’s eastern counties.

The trains, part of a contract with the Railway Reform Authority, or ARF, will connect Bucharest North station to Suceava, Iași, Galați, as well as Iași to Cluj-Napoca.

According to ARF, 12 electric train sets from the 36 units to be delivered by French multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom will be allocated to CFR Călători for providing public passenger rail transport services on the four routes included in the package. Annually, these trains will operate 11,680 routes (round-trip), covering a total of over 4.5 million km. The contract is valid for a maximum of 38 months.

The new trains, as well as the rolling stock modernization effort under way, will “generate positive effects across the entire railway network by improving transport service quality and enabling more efficient monitoring of contractual costs and a compensation level that ensures the financial sustainability of public passenger transport in the long term,” according to ARF.

A month ago, the Railway Reform Authority announced that Interregional Călători secured 13 new trains, which will cover the main routes in the northwest and center of the country, improving railway services serving cities such as Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Arad, Timișoara, Alba Iulia, Sfântu Gheorghe, Miercurea Ciuc, and Deva.

Starting December 24, 2023, in all European Union member states, public service contracts for passenger rail transport are awarded through competitive procedures, in accordance with EC Regulation

(Photo source: ARF - Autoritatea pentru Reformă Feroviară on Facebook)