Railway Journal: To begin with, please state the role your department has in the CFR - SA.

Emanoil Culda: I could say we represent the foundation of the company. The activity of CFR - SA is based exclusively on the Infrastructure Operating Department. The object of our activity is to ensure the operation of railway infrastructure, by maintaining all operating parameters within working limits, keeping the lines, installations and other equipment working, and to manage train circulation, allow maneuvers, distribute railway infrastructure capacities and allocate routes. Practically, the Operating-Infrastructure Department has thee branches of major importance: Traffic, which deals with the operating management of train circulation; Lines, which maintains the railway network; and Installations, which maintains all signaling, centralizing, electrification and traffic safety equipment along the railway.

R.J.: What is, at this moment, the structure of the Operating Department?

E.C.: The Operating-Infrastructure Department is coordinating the operating sub-units which are represented by: 1,030 railway stations, 67 railway maintenance stations, 27 traffic safety sections, 25 traffic regulators, 8 major electrification areas at the level of regional railway companies, and 8 telecommunications areas. This is a respectable number of sub-units. At the same time, the length of railway track we must service is 22,247 kilometers, with an operating length of 11,200 kilometers. Of these, 5,912 km, or 41%, are backbone lines, 2,248, or 16%, are main lines, and 6,086, or 43% - secondary lines. Travel speeds enforced on these lines are as follows:

- on 770 km (6% of the network) we achieve a speed of 121-140 km/h;
- on 2,068 km (14% of the network) - 101-120 km/h;
- on 3,933 km (28%) - 81-100 km/h;
- on 5,030 km (35%) - 51-80 km/h;
- on 2,445 km (17% of the network) - under 50 km/h.

Overall, we control 18,738 bridges, 179 tunnels, 648 electrodynamic centralization installations - of which 63 are very large in size, with over 60 track shifters - 308 electromechanical centralization installations, 2,401 km of automatic double-track line bloc, 1,979 km of automatic single-track line bloc; 10,688 km of contact line - of which 2,298 km of double electrified track and 1,531 km of simple electrified track, as well as 77 electrical traction sub-stations, with 22 railway dispatch points.

R.J.: How is the Operating Department working after the SNCFR reorganization?

E.C. I would say it is working well, in general. Of course, it is difficult to make a comparison with the previous period, because we are facing the same problems - lack of funds needed to maintain equipment at fixed technical parameters, which translates into the lack of proper mechanization tools. Notable efforts have been made to elevate infrastructure maintenance and operation to European levels, by acquiring high-performance machines, but they are not enough. For now, infrastructure operation is in a phase of transition, of improvement.

J.F.: How long do you think this transition will take?

E.C.: Everything depends on the volume of expenses we will be able to allocate every year for maintenance. We must focus on staying ahead of the infrastructure wear rate with the expenses we can afford. Because of the trains circulating, the railway infrastructure is being subjected to normal wear every year. If maintenance and repair works are done on time, operating parameters will be improved. We hope to be able in five to ten years to bring infrastructure back to normal parameters - lines without speed restrictions, which means that trains will be able to run without delays, plus added traffic safety.

J.F.: What are the sources of the funds you are using?

E.C.: The investment and repair funds come from the state budget, because a significant share of the company's patrimony - represented by the public infrastructure, estimated at 90% of the total railway infrastructure, is owned by the state. After the reorganization, only 197 billion lei were allocated for repairs and investments. The other funds were our revenues from railway operators. Unfortunately, because infrastructure degradation has been ongoing for the last 15-20 years, recent estimates place the amount needed to bring infrastructure back to acceptable levels at 16,000 billion lei.

J.F.: We know that, nevertheless, CFR - SA has lately signed contracts with well-known companies for the acquisition of machines and railway equipment.

E.C.: The railway has ambitious modernization programs. One of the most important is the acquisition of machines and equipment that will replace manual labor. I must say here that personnel in our basic activities, especially in the Lines sector, has been cut sensibly lately - by 46% compared to 1994.
If we have managed to buy more machinery, a cut in the number of employees would be extremely helpful. The acquisitions we have made, however, are not enough and manual labor is still being used. Still, our only viable option is to continue the acquisitions until we cover our needs. Mechanized labor will bring quality, speed, safety and cost saving into the railway maintenance activity.
At the rate of wear, we will never make it on manual labor alone. It all comes down to being consistent in the modernization program. At this time, we have around half of what we need. If we continue in the same way, in several years we will have a viable infrastructure.
The railway modernization program has been accomplished with foreign loans. It is extremely ample and stretches into all sectors. For instance, in telecommunications, we will have a fiber-optic network installed in two years that will cover the railway network, all major nodes, with digital telephone exchanges, with new and modern equipment. Our Information Technology department is already implementing the IRIS integrated system, under a contract with ICL. The system will be very useful in the operating activity, especially in infrastructure management, cost evaluation, scheduling, etc.

R.J.: What other projects do you have in mind?

E.C.: Ample modernization works will start; on the Corridor IV section, Bucharest-Brasov, we hope to start works next year. This will be the first section in Romania brought to European parameters. We will continue with Bucharest-Constanta and Brasov-Curtici. Finally, we will have an 800-km section of railway allowing speeds up to 160 km/h.

R.J.: What was the impact of the recent floods?

E.C.: This year has been very difficult from this point of view. Usually, we are confronted with floods in the spring and we are prepared for them. This time, rainfall was distributed quite oddly along the year, and we were surprised recently. On the Medgidia-Tulcea line, a torrential rainfall affected the groundwork on numerous openings and it took us an entire night of hard labor to reopen traffic.We had even bigger problems on line 100, Filiasi-Orsova. But we managed to mobilize all our forces and, together with railway construction shops, we organized and put together the work agenda. Everything that required organization came from us.R.J.: For how long have you been working with the CFR and what does your current position mean to you?E.C.: I have a 20-year history in the railway. I graduated the Transportation Faculty in 1979, then worked at the Cluj Regional Company until 1998; that year, I came to the SNCFR and, after reorganization on October 1, 1998, to CFR – SA.The position of operating director implies great responsibility. The Romanian railway network is 22,000 kilometers long - the seventh largest in Europe after Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Ukraine. Our situation now is quite difficult; because of the infrastructure wear, we are able to keep things under control only thanks to uncommon efforts. But we hope that the programs we started will help us move forward fast.