INFRASTRUCTURE ALLOWS BETTER CIRCULATION OF TRAINS

For the first time in the last nine years, travel times on the railway network have remains constant, and the conditions are set for lowering them in the future.

    The slow but permanent deterioration of the railway infrastructure is the negative effect caused by the economic conditions in the last nine years and by the direction of financial resources to other sectors. The introduction of restrictions, imposed by the condition of the railroad, has hampered efforts to maintain the infrastructure as optimal parameters. Because of the degradation, travel speeds have decreased considerably when the timetable was changed.
    For instance, there are travel sections with significant coverage rates in travel times up to 20-30 minutes, but here the speed limit has been necessary: Bucharest-Urziceni - from 100 km/h to 60 km/h, Simeria-Deva-Curtici - from 120 km/h to 70 km/h and, on some portions, to 50 km/h.
    At the same time, the lack of the resources to acquire special materials - such as bridge sleepers and sleepers for track shifters - has led to many maintenance works not being completed.
    The final result of these shortcomings was a drop in technical speeds in passenger traffic and a drop in traffic capacities.
    October 1998 has represented the restructuring of the railway system and its foundation on principles of economic profitability and professional competence. Overcoming the inherent starting problems has changed visibly the situation that had existed so far at the Railways. Things have turned into a better shape though the measures that were taken, but travel improvement programmes will be continued with other measures as well:
   a) Eliminating speed restrictions and limitations in travel times - the action will be possible by mechanised boring with high-performance machinery acquired with World Bank funding;
   b) Lowering the travel time for passenger and freight trains by optimising the organisation of crossings, in railway sectioning locations. This operation is accomplished by designing a train’s route with the COMRAICO computerised system, now being implemented;
   c) Improvement of the traffic coordination and control activity. The solution found was to implement an IRIS computerised traffic control system as part of the railway profitability project;
   d) Laying on contract terms the relations between CFR - SA (the manager of the public railway infrastructure in Romania) and railway operators;
   e) Operatively scheduling maintenance works, according to the priorities and available resources;
   f) Working out a timetable that would ensure optimal times needed for maintenance works and for the improvement of infrastructure parameters;
For this measure, so-called “traffic windows” have been introduced into the timetable, needed to rehabilitate and raise the potential, as well as the quality level of the infrastructure, in order to increase travel speeds;
   g) Operatively adopting and changing train routes according to the effective scheduling of works, in accordance with legal provisions.

Under these circumstance, when these measures are finalised, the 2000-2001 timetable will certainly have sensibly better quality indicators, and the implementation of information systems will upgrade the company to the level of railways in the European Unions, an aspect that will also contribute to our country’s integration into this organism.

Nicolae Ciovica
Magdalena Stanciu