CFR Marfa wants 40 Diesels

National railroad freight carrier SNTFM CFR Marfa intends to buy 40 new Diesel engines, following an international tender organised on the Romanian Commodities Exchange in order to upgrade its vehicle stock. The order is estimated to be worth at least 80 million euros. The company has not bought a new Diesel engine in about 40 years. CFR Marfa reckons it accounts for approximately 90% of the railroad freight transport market, where it competes with twelve other private operators such as Unifertrans, Grupul Feroviar Roman (Romanian Railway Group) or Servtrans Invest. The tender is scheduled for August 27, with bids expected until August 25. It has already aroused a strong interest among international suppliers like Siemens (Germany), Alstom (France) or Bombardier (Canada), according to the latest info on the market. Siemens, one of the largest European industrial groups, is currently running the biggest train car acquisition contract on the Romanian market after 1989, worth some 321 million euros. ZF