CFR to buy $30m-worth Alcatel equipment

The National Railway Company – CFR SA last week concluded a 30 million-dollar agreement with Alcatel Sel AG Germany, according to which the foreign party has to manufacture and set up computerised systems for transport security and traffic control in Bucharest, Timisoara, Brasov and Arad railway stations.

“This is the biggest project in Romania entirely financed from Phare funds,” Fokion Fotiadis, head of European Commission Delegation to Bucharest, maintained.

“The project was launched by CFR experts three years ago and was assessed in Brussels,” Transports minister Anca Boagiu stated. The new equipment will gradually replace the current centralisation systems based on relays, which were introduced in Romanian railways starting with 1958.

In Romania there are currently 648 CFR stations, with a total number of 18,772 switches operated with electrodynamic centralisation equipment, based on relays.

The computerised systems provided by Alcatel will allow the electrical centralisation of data, increase the safety of railway transports, cut down maintenance costs and fault times and will give the possibility to integrate railway stations in a computerised network.

“This agreement opens the process of modernisation of railway transportation in Romania, so as it may comply with European Union standards of efficiency and security,” Anca Boagiu stated.

Romania will be among the European countries to benefit from state-of-the-art electronic centralisation systems similar to those from Germany, Italy, France or Sweden, which in the future will allow it to integrate its railway infrastructure with the European systems of railway traffic control.

Anca Boagiu admitted that, due to the new technologies, the personnel involved in this activity would have to be cut down, but stated that employees would be redistributed.

The project will be completed in November 2002, but the number of CFR stations to benefit from such systems is expected to increase to ten during the next five years.