AFER, Three Years Since its Foundation

2001 was the year in which Romanian Railway Authority (AFER) has experienced a series of changes, at employees' level, as well as in approaching its clients.

Recalling, we find out that AFER was founded three years ago, through a Government Ordinance (no. 95/1998), after the reorganization of the Autonomous Direction of the Romanian Railway Register - REFER RA - and of the Railway Inspectorate. As a specialized technical body of the Ministry of Transports, it was assigned to provide, mainly, the state inspection and the safety traffic control within the railway transport and the subway sector, also achieving the promotion of the up to date technology in the modernization process of CFR.
This year there has been tried the formation of a new team of professionals who will impose first of all by their competence and then by their positions granted by the institution. There has been also carried on the elaboration and the definition program of the basic regulations and instructions for the railway system. There have been approved through the minister's order the following fundamental regulations:
1. Technical railway exploitation regulation, 2001 edition;
2. Methodologies to perform ultrasonic controls at the axles of the freight wagon and passengers coaches;
3. Instructions for the under-loaded or overloaded transports;
4. Regulations for the signaling through several speed steps (filling in the signaling instruction);
5. Basic regulations in the subway transport (basic transports regarding the speed restrictions and closing the tracks of the subway);
6. Instructions for the intervention trains operation at the rehabilitation works of the fixed equipment of electrical hauling);
7. Instructions for the non-damaging control of the tracks;
8. Instructions for the intervention trains exploitation for the rehabilitation of the tracks, of the bridges and the embankments;
9. Instructions for avoiding and preventing the flooding and protection against the icebergs;
10. Instructions for machines operation and the construction machinery, the maintenance of the track and the contact line.
One of AFER projects for 2001 was the modification of the Order 290/2000 regarding the authorization of the railway suppliers, homologation and agreement of the railway products and services, in order to adapt this normative paper to the railway system realities. This decision was made due to the fact that the old text did not meet anymore either the concrete situations on the transports market, or the latest orientations of the European railway community, its modification being requested by the majority of the railway suppliers. It is expected the new order to be enforced starting with January 2002.
The relationship with the economical agents that supply the railway was another item on AFER agenda for year 2001. The mutations occurred in the last two years on the railway transports market - among which we can emphasize the occurrence of the private railway operators, the modification of the structure of the overhaul railway undertakings for rolling stock as a consequence of the privatization program and so on - are only a few of the reasons for the inauguration of a new mode of approaching the relationships of AFER with its potential clients.
The commencement of the rehabilitation works of the railway infrastructure on Corridor IV, through the amplitude and the novelty of the unfolded operations created a special situation this year, fact that has imposed a special approach from the Railway Authority.
Additionally, CFR Marfa and CFR Calatori intend to start to purchase in the future new rolling stock, actions that impose the involvement of AFER for its admission in the Romanian railway system. There have also taken place two working meetings with important economical agents from the field of construction/rolling stock and infrastructure overhaul and with the representatives of the railway operators. The scope of the meetings was the acknowledgement of the specific problems and the identification of the solving solutions in the conditions of the existing business environment at the level of year 2001. Thus, there have been materialized the valid solutions and there have been received interesting proposals regarding the Order 290, proposal that will be included in the final text of the paper. There is scheduled the organization on semesters of this kind of meetings, aiming to develop a benefic collaboration for both parties.
In our attempt to establish concretely which is the role of the Romanian Railway Authority now, after three years since the beginning of its activity as part of the Romanian railway system, we asked this question to the general manager of AFER, Mr. Gheorghe Gradeanu. He showed us that: "We can appreciate, after three years since the foundation, that AFER holds a central place within the national railway system, being the state authority assigned to regulate all the activities developed within the railway transport field. We appreciate that the attributions and competencies of AFER are in accordance with the current structure of the national railway system and agree, at the highest level, with the requirements that the European Community is imposing to the European railway authorities. The international consultant SENECA, in its final report regarding the Romanian railway system presented in October, has also confirmed these findings. On this occasion there has been noticed the importance of AFER in the maintenance of the high standards of quality, of safety traffic, in the homologation, and agreement process of the products and railway services and, not at last, in the implementation of the new technology in the railway field. Through all these attributes, AFER is a major factor of balance for the Romanian railway system. We believe, and we hope in the same time, that these opinions are also shared by the economical agents that collaborate with us."
An activity that was almost forgotten in the last decade - and, unfortunately, not only by AFER - is the scientific research. And here it is well mentioned the fact that the first research institute in Romania was the Technological Institute of CFR, founded in 1929, whose pursuer is today AFER. The reduction of the funds allocated for the research sector led to a regress of its activity in the last 10-12 years. There have been restructured the research teams, they have been reoriented, the number of the researches has been reduced, and the young generation can not be attracted by a field with such poor advantages, and we can go on exposing reasons for that.
Still, in 2001 at AFER the research works started in the previous years have been carried on. We can mention some of them: the Steering System for the operational driving of the trains' circulation and the assistance of the activity in the synthesis compartments of the traffic regulator in Brasov or Steering system for the mobile communications which require GSM R railway security. But there have been also approached new themes, as Feasibility Study for the program of overhaul and rehabilitation of the locomotives and passengers coaches during 2001-2004, The establishment of the parameters of the curves with speed limits according to the permanent control of the trains' speed at the Indusi equipment utilized at CFR. At the collaboration chapter, in year 2001 there have been accomplished the following works: Competitive Diesel motorcar for the regional and interregional passengers traffic - integration of the fabrication in Romania and Regional network for the provision of the quality of railway transport on Bucharest - Chisinau section.
The current year, an initiative of AFER was materialized through an order of MLPTL (no. 1206/2001) up dating the promotion of the development and the increase of efficiency of the scientific research activity and technological research in the field of the railway transport and the subway transport. This order is sustained by the strategy elaborated for the railway system in Romania.
The current management team of AFER wishes that the role that the institution of the railway authorization holds presently to be maintained and to be developed in the future through the association with other fields, too. We can mention a few of these fields: the arbitrage of the railway operators' activities and the non-discriminating access on the railway infrastructure.
If up to present time the activity of the private operators in the railway sector was insignificant, in 2002 it is expected their major assault, through the increase of their number, as well as of their potential to penetrate the transports market. This means an increase of the role of AFER as arbiter in the relationships between the operators, but also between these ones and the administrator of the infrastructure, CFR SA. Through this approach it is intended to correlate the activities developed by AFER with the ones of the other similar European entities, but also with the exigencies of the European Union with respect to the state authority assigned.
In order to create a team of professionals, in 2002 there will be developed training activities for AFER personnel through the provision of certain courses in authorized centers. In order to achieve a better integration of AFER in the national railway system there will be performed the monitoring of the activities developed by the companies detached from the national railway operators and from CFR SA. There will be provided in the same time the requirements of quality and safety imposed by the existing regulations. A bigger extend will be granted in 2002 to the authorizations of the railway stations, of the shunting operators and industrial lines, of the training centers for the railway personnel, and a novelty will be the beginning of the authorization action of the railway expedition houses.
Analyzing the evolution of AFER in the last years it can be noticed the extension of the present action field. We can say that due to the fact that its activity comprises now several domains, starting with the modernization of the infrastructure and of the rolling stock, up to the improvement of the quality of the services in the railway transport services and also of the subway. We do not have to omit very important tasks that AFER holds in the activities related to the adoption of a community aquis, environment protection, personnel training or in the field of technical research of the railway events.
The evolution of the national railway system and the development tendencies of the European one will lead to the formation of a competitive institution, able to meet the European and world requirements and regulations in the field of the railway transport.
The task of the Romanian Railway Authority is not easy at all, the multitude of transformations that characterize the railway sector lately forces the employees of this institution to a permanent adapting and opening towards the new.

Silvia Mirea