Starting 1 October 1998, the National Railway Company CFR SA administers the entire railway infrastructure, both public and private.

According to Government Decision 581/ 10.09.1998, the elements of the public infrastructure are:

• the current lines between the stations and the corresponding land;
• the expedition lines in the stations and the corresponding land;
• the fleeing lines and the corresponding land;
• the devices for rails;
• the marshalling yards and the corresponding trains from the stations: Bucharest, Ploiesti, Craiova, Simeria, Caransebes, Dej, Brasov, Adjud;
• the bridges, tunnels, viaducts, inferior passages, the shelters for conduits and cables;
• the geo - technical works for protection and consolidation as well as the plantations for the protection of the rails and the land where they are located;
• the fixed security installations and for the operating administration of the railway transport.

Based on the analysis of the elements of the railway infrastructure it is necessary an amount of ROL 2.2 billion to ensure the capital repair of 700 km of rails, 235 bridges, 149 zones with weakened embankment, 22 tunnels and 104 installations type SCB and IFTE.

The Government Decision 303/ 15.04.1999 approved the budget of the CFR SA and allocates only ROL 197 billion for capital repairs.

Taking into account the obligation of CFR SA to ensure the functioning of the public railway transport and the national defense needs, the Board and the General Shareholders Meeting approved, for the current year, the execution of capital repairs amounting to ROL 785 billion, of which ROL 588 from CFR SA’s own revenues. Therefore, there will be repaired 73 bridges, 64 zones with weakened embankment, 16 tunnels, 51 installations type SCB and IFTE and 228 km of rails. The repair works will be executed with new materials on 149 km of principal rails in the CFR network and with recycled materials on 79 km of secondary rails and from the stations. Due to the fact that the capital repairs of the rails represents a complex operation that is to be executed with specific equipment, CFR SA organized last year the international tender PHARE RO-9604-01-01, for the acquisition of 40,200 tons of rails, 236 pieces of specific devices for rails and 8,250 elements for rail soldering. There have been concluded three contracts with prestigious companies in the field. Currently, there have been delivered 6,700 tons of steel by British Steel, 90 pieces of specific devices for rails by Vae Apcarom Buzau and all the products contracted with Railtech International. CFR SA also acquires through tenders the iron sheets needed for the capital repairs of bridges.

The quality of the works in process is periodically controlled by the head of the building sites that are certified by MLPAT, by the specific bodies within the Rails, Installations and Technical Departments of the Railway Regional 1 –8 and, randomly, by the specialists from the central body of CFR SA (i.e. Technical Department and Exploitation Department).

It is necessary to underline that, during this spring, due to the floods caused by the melting of the snow, CFR SA realized, from its own funds, the rehabilitation works on Darmansti – Floreni – Ilva Mica network.

At the same time with the capital repairs of the railway infrastructure, CFR SA started, from its own funds, the execution of certain projects, such as:

• the improvement of the work conditions and of the work protection in Bucharest and Ploiesti marshalling yards;
• the construction of high platforms, modern installations for lightening, sound and display of the information in the Bucharest North Station;
• the restoration of 11 of the most important railway stations: Giurgiu Nord, Craiova, Timisoara Nord, Deva, Arad, Alba Iulia, Cluj Napoca, Iasi, Vaslui, Constanta and of two frontier points; Curtici and Episcopia Bihorului;
• the construction of an own supply base in Bucurestii Noi.

The year 1999 also means for CFR SA the starting of the rehabilitation works for Bucharest – Brasov railway, part of the Trans – European Corridor no.4, for the circulation of trains with maximum speed of 160 km/h. Being the biggest railway work in Romania, the financing will be granted through external credits granted by the European Investment Bank and it is expected to be finalized by 2003. The financing agreement between the European Investment Bank and the Romanian Government, the Ministry of Transport and CFR SA have been already elaborated and approved. Currently, the international tenders for pre-selecting the consultant and the general contractor of the works are in progress.