Timișoara airport set to be second in Romania with dedicated train line, after Bucharest

Timișoara International Airport is set to become the second airport in Romania with a dedicated train line, following Bucharest Otopeni Airport which inaugurated a direct metropolitan train in 2020.

The contract for the design and construction of the railway line at Traian Vuia-Timișoara Airport will be launched for bidding this week, according to the minister of transport, Sorin Grindeanu.

The CFR line (Magistrala 100) - Timișoara Airport will have a length of 5 kilometers, and the value of the contract is approximately RON 400 mln (EUR 80 mln). Work is ongoing on the new terminal, with a contract worth RON 99 mln (EUR 20 mln). The execution period is 22 months, according to Economedia.ro.

The project for the CFR line at Timișoara Airport was labeled as a priority during the mandates of Sorin Grindeanu, an MP from Timiș County, and Ion Simu (Director of CFR Timișoara and currently General Director of CFR Infrastructure). Both the train line administrator CFR and the Timisoara airport are managed by the Ministry of Transport.

Timișoara, in western Romania, is located on the route of the M 100 Bucharest - Craiova - Arad mainline, with three out of four modernization contracts signed for the Caransebeș - Timișoara - Arad section and with tenders launched for the sections between Craiova and Caransebeș. The completion of the project is part of the short, medium, and long-term development strategy included in the General Transport Master Plan approved by the Government, and the railway connection to Traian Vuia International Airport is included in the Railway Infrastructure Development Strategy 2021-2025.

The railway line at Traian Vuia International Airport will allow passenger transport to the city of Timișoara and other cities in Romania. New railway lines will be constructed on the connection to Traian Vuia International Airport, the signaling installations on the existing line will be modernized, and new railway installations will be built for the airport connection, according to the Ministry of Transport.

In the 2021 ranking of regional airports in Romania, Timișoara Airport ranked third in terms of the number of passengers, after Cluj-Napoca and Iași, according to BoardingPass.

(Photo source: Peter Lovas | Dreamstime.com)