With October 1 marking a year since the reform effectively began, let us remember a few of the targets already behind us, after only 365 days.

- major railway companies are operating independently, the new railway activities are clearly differentiated (the new companies produce a profit and do not incur losses to the national economy);
- cross subsidies have been eliminated, thus ruling out the "black holes" in the former SNCFR’s revenues and expenses budget;
- a face-to-face confrontation with the market, especially for railway operators;
- excessive and aged personnel has been cut off from railway companies;
- the railways have adapted to European Community directives (particularly those referring to the separation of infrastructure and free and equal access to the infrastructure);
- for the first time, a consistent and rational long-term strategy for the development, operation and management of the railway infrastructure has been drafted.

Of course, there have not been only successes in the SNCFR reform. There are shades of gray, which are in fact inevitable, are here and are hampering the activity. To continue what was begun on October 1, 1998, is to eliminate these shades of gray, improve already working mechanisms, and eliminate and replace mechanisms that have proven to be improper and inefficient.

The SNCFR reform is therefore, part of the HISTORY! (A history that top participants will some day reveal in their memoirs). Therefore, we will only talk from now on about what is now, about the life of railway companies that together make up the Romanian railway system.

Because the pace of life is to always look ahead without forgetting the past and by building the present!