RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE AFTER A YEAR OF ACTIVITY

 

    The ratio between the stress the railway is subjected to (traffic, speed, predominant traffic component) and the volume of maintenance and reconstruction works ensures that the railway network stays within the necessary quality parameters. Insufficient technical equipment and a shortage of materials and labour in the last 15-20 years has hampered significant maintenance and repair works.
    These flaws resulted in a serious degradation of the railway, which showed in lower traffic speeds on 2,416 km for passenger trains and 6,319 km for freight trains. Because of insufficient budget funding allocated to public infrastructure, of the fact that fees paid for the use of railway infrastructure and fees paid by railway operators do not cover the necessary volume of works, railways cannot be maintained at the proper levels.
    Therefore, on current lines travel speeds are:
• V 50 km/h - on 2.445 km;
• 50 < V < 80 km/h - on 5.030 km;
• 80 < V < 100 km/h - on 3.933 km;
• 100 < V < 120 km/h - on 2.068 km;
• 120 < V < 140 km/h - on 770 km.
   It is well known that failure to execute repairs and maintenance on time results in an exponential deterioration of the quality index and therefore, of maintenance costs. Hence, the lack of budget allocations for private and public infrastructure has led to the following consequences for the railways:
A. An increased degradation of the railway track and works of art, as repairs cannot keep pace with their depreciation.
   There are major delays in executing capital repairs. Nowadays, around 3,300 km of track (public railway infrastructure) are behind capital repairs schedule, and the 442 bridges, 678 small bridges, 38 tunnels and 541 embankments also need capital repairs..
   Speed restrictions in 1999 (around 300), which have of course affected traffic regularity, have remained, as notr all maintenance and repair works were carried out with the volume and pace required by the condition of the railway infrastructure. Perilous areas (where embankments are in particularly poor condition), such as the Salva - Viseu, Buhaiesti - Roman, Campia Turzii - Cluj (Tunel - Boju area) lines, will pose particular problems in operation.
    Another inconvenience is the closure of some lines, according to G.D. 581, art. 19, g, 4, which cannot be maintained in operation, on one hand, in terms of traffic safety, and on the other, to maintain backbone and main lines in circulation. Repairs will be even less available for lines in the private infrastructure, in depots and carriage maintenance sections.
    This will happen out of the need to keep as many public infrastructure lines in circulation as possible.
B. More uncertainty in the operation of traffic safety (SCB) and electrification installations.
   In this regard, there is an added risk to traffic safety because used parts and components have not been replaced and are outside the admitted parameters (including the cable network and track shifter mechanisms). Also, many of the existing installations are technically and morally obsolete (electromagnetic centralisation installations). Their replacement is not yet planned, because the necessary parts have long gone out of production, but keeping them in operation generates a permanent risk. Electrification installations are still in operation, but they have exceeded their operation terms, which prompts the risk of accidents.
    Consequently, the measures that need to be taken are as follows:
- lease unprofitable lines that cannot be operated within safety limits;
- close railway stations where activity does not justify operation;
- introduce an acceptable annual schedule for the replacement of outdated infrastructure elements, which bring about operating hazards;
- give priority only to works on lines and constructions that are needed to keep the public railway network operating, which are economically viable, and decommission portions of the public railway infrastructure which do not fit within profitability patterns;
- secure an annual volume of funding needed for maintenance and repairs, allowing a return to a normal operation of railway infrastructure within five to six years, according to the demands of the Infrastructure Operating Department;
- complete vacancies in traffic safety activities, so that sub-units have a normal activity that is consistent with specialised instructions.

CARRYING OUT CAPITAL REPAIRS

    Expenditures for the railway infrastructure capital repairs programme amounted to 1,249 billion lei, of which 900 billion were allocated for the public branch, and 319 billion lei for the private branch. In October 1999, because of problems with capital repairs and based on the proposals of regional railway companies and other sub-units, changes took place in the capital repairs programme, which led to the allocation of 780 billion lei for the public infrastructure, and 90 billion lei for the private infrastructure.
   Last year, capital repairs were completed on major sites in both private railway infrastructure (lines, bridges, unstable embankment, tunnels, SCB and IFTE installations, design research - 780 billion lei), and private infrastructure (lines in stations, buildings, TTR installations, heavy machinery, design studies - 80 billion lei).
    Also in 1999, around 86,000 concrete sleepers were reconditioned and 903,000 VOSSLOH - Skl 12 elastic couplings were introduced on 129 km of track. In the last four years (1996 - 1999) such couplings were introduced on 475 km of track in the CFR network.
    Capital repairs for the public railway infrastructure has been a permanent concern for the CFR - SA management, which, at each monthly meeting with representatives of regional companies and railway sub-units, analysed the achievements and problems and set the measures needed to bolster the speed of repair works and improve works quality.

CHANGES IN SPEED REGULATIONS

    Track maintenance requires interventions with a variable duration - in some cases, labour-intensive works - which has called for speed limits on train circulation in order to ensure traffic safety, until the defects were remedied.
   Between May 30 - December 31, 1999, the company introduced 281 speed restrictions, needed both to carry out repairs and maintenance works, and considering the bad condition of the railway track. Because of calamities (floods, landslides) during the summer, traffic had to be temporarily shut down on some lines, or speed restrictions introduced, as rehabilitation works were necessary. Of course, this has taken an undesired toll, perturbing traffic safety and causing delays in trains arriving, but passenger safety on the railway must take priority. At the end of 1999 (01.11 - 31.12), 189 speed restrictions were returned to normal speeds, thus improving traffic regularity by 50% against the previous month.
    Rehabilitating the railway infrastructure to the designed safety parameters is one of the essential goals of the National Railways Company, and the future strategy will have to attain two major goals:
    - maintenance works in the volume and quality dictated by traffic intensity and the wear of the track and equipment;
    - the establishment and following of an acceptable programme for the annual volume of capital repair works, so as to eliminate overdue items in this category of repairs in a determined period of time and to make up for the pace of degradation.

Oana Bran