MLPTL News

 

ISPA and PHARE projects will be accomplished faster

At the end of the meeting from September 10, between the representative of MLPTL, the state secretary Marius Sorin Bota, and Simon Mordue, the coordinator of Delivery Assistance within European Commission Delegation in Bucharest, Mr. Bota declared: " The unfolding of the procedures for the three types of tenders consultancy, design and works in parallel and not successively, as they were unfolded till present time, will lead to an important reduction of a project duration. This will allow to star other new projects, in due time, especially that the development necessities in the field of transport infrastructure are too big in comparison with the time that we have available for that".

The period of time needed for the accomplishment of the projects unfolded by the Ministry of Public Works, Transports and Housing being financed by European Union programs will be shortened in the future. European Commission delegation in Bucharest accepted, after the discussions held with the representatives of MLPTL, parallel development of the tender procedures for consultancy, design and works engagement within the delivery instruments RHARE and ISPA.

Also, during this meeting the representatives of the delegation expressed their satisfaction with regard to the good collaboration between MLPTL and European Commission Delegation in Bucharest. The collaboration between the two institutions, as well as the modality in which MLPTL fulfilled its obligations have been the main elements which constitute the base of he decision to develop in parallel the tenders for consultancy, design and works within PHARE and ISPA programs.

 

A new IT application for data processing at CFR-SA

On September19, 2001, at the headquarter of the Ministry of Public Works, Transports and Housing, took place the signing ceremony of the Agreement for Grants between the Government of Romania, represented by the Ministry of Transports, Public Works and Housing, and the Government of United States of America, represented by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (US - TDA), in order to elaborate a feasibility study and the prototype regarding the equipment of National Railway Company "CFR" SA with a new IT system which will process the data obtained with the help of rail measuring machinery and through the Integrated IT System for the Railway (IRIS).

The document has been signed, on behalf of the Romanian party, by Mr. Ion Selaru, state secretary within the Ministry of Public Works, Transports and Housing, and on behalf of the American party Mr. Jonathan Marks, commercial attaché within the Embassy of United States of America in Bucharest.

The agreement for the grants concluded between the Romanian Government, represented by MLPTL, and the Government of the United States of America, represented by US-TDA, is on an amount of 194,000 USD, the beneficiary of this agreement being the National Railway Company "CFR"-SA.

Consultancy services financed by the grant given by US-TDA propose to stress the advantages of the implementation in the exploitation of a flexible IT program to survey the modernization and the maintenance of the infrastructure.

The object of the study concluded includes the evaluation of the data penetration in the system and the establishment of its architecture, fact which will lead to the rapid evaluation of the problems and of the state of infrastructure and decision taking on long term having all necessary information.

Pilot product resulted after the study will offer a complete operational database, which will operate in a LAN local network and will allow the link with the telecommunication network at rail regions level.

 

Penalties at SNTFC "CFR Calatori"

icles that stress the disorders and malfunctioning in the modality of activity development within SNTFC "CFR Calatori" SA which had negative consequences on the well-performance of the services provided for the public, of trains regularity, as well as the comfort in the passengers' trains.

Among the events evoked we can mention: a fire at the electrical locomotive at train no 986 on August 20, 2001; in Braila railway station, at train no 773 a passenger that got down on the platform could not get on the train again when the train left; in Alba-Iulia station, from Train no 347-2, Dacia Express, from the sleeping car 419, from a group of 21 Austrian citizens only 17 succeeded to get down, and the others got down later on in Medias station.

After the researches performed among the personnel of the company we are talking about related to the disorders occurred, there have been disposed disciplinary penalties, among which: a disciplinary termination of the work contract (VD engine driver belonging to GEVARO), new disciplinary replacements from the positions (the head of Bucharest Passengers Depot, heads of Bucharest Grivita Passengers Stations, also from Galati and Braila, an engine driver within SELC Fetesti, RCM Fetesti operator, four train conductors and chief of trains) and eight reductions of the wage on a period of time of 1 to 3 months.

There were also disposed a series of organizational measures, in the same time with the training of all the personnel in order to perform their work tasks.

 

CFR-SA acts against the stealing from the railway

In the conditions when on Bucharest Campina section are presently executed rehabilitation works, the repeated stealing of the materials recorded lately on this section endanger passengers safety, as well as the quality of works executed, which are resumed every time when there are recorded such events, with the afferent costs. Because of that, CNCF "CFR" SA management decided to approach all legal measures necessary to prevent and discourage the occurrence of any other stealing in the future. This type of events is not, unfortunately, singular in the development of railway activity, in passengers and freight transport recording lately another type of incident, namely the aggression of the chiefs of the trains.

CNCF CFR-SA is decided to act through all its means to fight against the stealing that affect railway infrastructure understanding to put in application the most efficient measures for the provision of safety circulation of the trains and the maintenance at the highest parameters of the circulation fluency.

 

"CFR Calatori" apologizes to the travelling public

National Company for Railway Passengers Transport "CFR Calatori" SA informs the travelling public about the difficulties that were recorded lately in providing fluent circulation of the passengers' trains and in achievement of its maximal regularization. The causes that generate this unpleasant situation where SNTFC has a quite reduced contribution, caused by the precarious technical state of the locomotives and wagons fleet is due to the very vast way in which the repairs and the modernization of the tracks and its afferent equipment, executed by firms and profile firms, monitored by National Railway Company "CFR" SA, railway infrastructure administration.

Apart of having the intention to exculpate for the dissatisfactions created to the passengers, expressing their apologies on this occasion, SNTFC "CFR Calatori" SA wants to underline the fact that the delays are caused especially by the works performed at the tracks and their afferent equipment. In this respect, a few samples are edifying. Among these, the rearranging and modernization works on Bucharest Nord Chitila, Buftea Peris, Buda Floresti Prahova (300 main line) railway sections, which have been started in the same time with the changing of train timetable and which affect passengers' trains circulation by speed restrictions imposed and the protection that has to be provided to the working teams at the tracks. In these conditions, the maximal circulation speed has been reduced on several sections from 120 km/h to 70 km/h and even to 30 km/h, generating delays of 20 or 30 minutes. It has also to be underlined the fact that on several railway sections, especially from the southern part of the country, due to the excessive high temperatures recorded during the month of August has been limited almost daily the maximal speed of circulation, especially for the superior rank trains, due to the deformation danger of the railway tracks. On August 21 and 22, on Bucharest CF Rail Region have been recorded11 trains with 69 minutes delays, respectively 15 trains, with 74 minutes delays, and on August 21 on Timisoara CF Rail Region have been recorded five trains with over 50 minutes delays. Troubles at the afferent railway equipment, often met, led to trains' stopping on the route or in the stations, producing significant delays. On August 22, on Craiova CF Rail Region have been delayed four trains with 30 minutes, on Constanta CF Rail Region three trains with 23 minutes, Brasov CF Rail Region five trains with 41 minutes delays. Another cause of the delays is represented by the accidental closure of the lines as a consequence of some unexpected events, as the consequences of the heavy rains which affected the railway embankment and its afferent equipment, trees falling down on the contact line and on the railway, etc. On August 23 have been recorded such cases on Brasov CF Rail Region, where four trains have been delayed with 380 minutes, and Iasi CF Rail Region five trains, with 53 minutes.

SNTFC "CFR Calatori" SA wants to assure the passengers that in these difficult conditions for the trains' circulation the efforts of our company's personnel are directed to the application of the measures meant to provide the achievement of regularity as good as possible in the passengers' traffic and the best quality services, in the same time hoping that the beneficiaries will understand the difficulties occurred in the passengers trains' circulation.

 

Silvia Mirea and Oana Bran