A new Ministry has started its activity

Since December 28, 2000, the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Habitat has begun its activity. Its Minister is Mr. Ion Mitrea. The more flexible structure of the new institution includes five secretaries of state that are in charge with well-delimited branches. The Secretary of State in charge with the issues related to transportation is Mr. Ion Selaru. The Secretary of state in charge with issues related to infrastructure is Mr. Sergiu Sechelariu. The Secretary of State responsible with issues related to neighboring and emplacement plans and supervision in constructions, roll land and house administration is Ms. Ileana Tureanu. The Secretary of state, which is responsible with the European integration problems, is Mr. Sorin Bota. The Secretary of state for Parliament relationships is Mr. Tudor Florescu. One of the main objectives of MLPTL is to actively participate in the process of negotiations in order to succeed in joining as soon as possible the European Union.

Presently, CFR Palace is the headquarters of the new Ministry within the governmental structure, called The Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Habitat (MLPTL). The activity of such institution includes various fields, from transportation to infrastructure and emplacements, from urban and neighboring issues to European integration problems, up to the Parliament, patronage and unions relationship problematic.
The strategy of the present government and implicitly of the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Habitat, related to transportation includes a series of programs and projects, which once they are finished, will lead to the development of infrastructure and generally of the entire national transportation system.
One of the most accentuated problems our country is dealing today, regarding transportation, is the inadequate quality of the latter, plus the fact that there still are areas in deficit from the point of view of territorial coverage with an efficient network that should satisfy all the needs for traveling of our citizens. Insuring the environment protection and the traffic safety is also another problem that has to be more seriously considered by the Ministry.
In the governmental program for 2001-2005, the following issues have been also included:
• Rehabilitation, modernization and development of transportation infrastructure (highways, bridges, etc), in order to improve travelers’ comfort, to increase the efficiency of freight transportation ant the mobility of population in parallel with the alignment of the national transportation system to European standards;
• Expending the international financial programs, due to the World Bank or to private sources, which will allow to improve our railway, harbor, airport and road infrastructure, in a more accentuated way;
• Developing and improving the transportation installations in order to increase the quality of services and security of transportation;
• Restructuring the state railway company system, so that to stop the losses and to reduce the subventions and to insure a coherent coordinating system of the CFR activity;
• Restructuring the National Administration of Ways by expending and privatizing the other related activities, such as repairing, maintaining and signaling works; insuring a coherent management of the enterprise program for highways; reconsidering the classification of roadways, an efficient use of the internal and external funds and using in a more accentuated manner the products and tools manufactured in Romania;
• Restructuring state owned companies within the subordination of the Ministry for increasing the their efficiency and preparing the privatization process;
• Encouraging and liberalizing and propelling the internal transportation market in a competing system, especially for the railway and air transportation;
• Insuring social protection for the population through specific modalities of the field;
• Sustaining the Romanian capital by promoting and supporting the Romanian investors in the investment projects abroad;
Insuring the environmental protection and preservation.

As for the railway transportation programs, the new Ministry intends to rehabilitate the infrastructure and improve the some routes considered to be of a great importance:
• Route Bucharest - Ploiesti - Campina - Brasov on the 4th trans-European Corridor;
• Modernizing the Bucharest - Constanta railway, also on the 4th trans-European Corridor
• Starting works to rehabilitate the infrastructure on the rail route Arad - Brasov
• Restarting the abandoned works on the Ramnicu-Valcea - Valcele; Berbesti - Alunu; Harlau - Flamazi; Saueni - Darabani routes
• Consolidating the infrastructure in the Portile de Fier area
• Modernizing the Curtici - Arad - Alba Iulia - Medias - Brasov line
• Rehabilitating and modernizing the Bucharest metro
• Expanding the metro line on the Drumul Taberei - Pantelimon line and finalizing the already started works that have not been completed.

Another chapter of the MLPTL program is the National Transport Alignment to the European System. To achieve this program a lot of care will be dedicated to the working conditions for railway activities. A few of the directions that will be followed include:
• Rehabilitating the existing locomotive park and buying new locomotives; building locomotives with the cooperation of big foreign companies;
• Modernizing 500 freight cars and 100 passenger cars;
• Modernizing major stations;
• Insuring commercial assistance;
• Providing railway transport with electric and self powered utility vehicles (135 pieces);
• Creating a computerized system for ticketing and reservations;
• Modernizing the metro cars and buying new utility vehicles;

On the same line, the program wishes to increase awareness, simulate, consolidate and liberate the internal market for railway transportation in a competition environment. The Public Works, Transport and Habitat Ministry will support this project by:
• Revising the current railway management and defining the status of the railway authority;
• Supporting the development of the private operators in railway transportation;
Initiating the privatization of commercial companies that segregated from the old SNCFR.

All these projects and programs require close monitoring. The actual completion will depend in a great measure on the proper management of funding. The money will come from the state and also from external loans. Parts of the projects are already into development or are being negotiated with the proper institutions.
For years we have hoped to buy tickets in normal and decent conditions and to travel in modern trains, properly heated, on rails that will insure our safety. The materialization of all these programs will surely give substance to our dreams.

Silvia Mitulescu reporting