In a time when mobility of people and freight is at its highest, the world has entered an era of climate uncertainty. In this context, each of us is responsible and should try to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the environment.
Have you ever wondered which are the most environmentally-friendly ways to travel? Travelling by electric trains comes third after walking and cycling, leaving travel by car and by plane far behind.
Romania has one of the largest railway networks in the European Union, but the network needs an upgrade. The average travelling speed on the Romanian railways is 45-50 km/h, not even half of the European average. In fact, on certain routes the travelling time is similar to that in the 1930s.
Modernisation of the railway section “Simeria-km 614”, part of the Rhine-Danube TEN-T Rail Corridor
The modernisation of 144 km of railway in Western Romania, part of the Rhine-Danube corridor, is the largest transport infrastructure project implemented by the Romanian Government in the last 30 years with a value of over €2 billion. Besides the technical complexities of such a project, implementing the contract and securing the financing were also challenging issues for the Romanian Government.
The Romanian authorities initially had difficulties in securing EU funding unless the project was updated to meet the European Commission’s financing requirements, including climate risk and vulnerability assessment. With the support of the EIB Project Advisory Support Unit (PASU), the feasibility study was successfully updated to comply with these requirements and in 2017 the European Commission approved the EU financing of €2 billion. The EIB is also co-financing the project through a framework loan for the entire Large Infrastructure Operational Programme of Romania.
The EIB PASU is continuing to support the Romanian authorities in dealing with implementation issues until the end of the project.
Once the project is completed, passenger trains will run at a maximum speed of 160 km/h and freight trains will travel at a maximum of 120 km/h. The modernised railway section will also benefit from a traffic management system, improving safety.
The project will provide not only increased security, comfort and travelling times for passengers, but it will also have a major impact on the environment by reducing CO2 emissions by an anticipated 1.5 million tonnes over the 30-year life expectancy of the project.