Memorandum on resuming Prut – Falciu railway connection signed in Moldovan capital

The Memorandum of Understanding on the resumption of the Prut–Falciu railway connection was signed Chisinau today. In the first phase, only freight transport will be possible on this segment, which has been unused for over 30 years. This will allow economic agents to save time and money.

The document was signed by the director of the Railway of Moldova (CFM) state enterprise and the head of the National Railway Company of Romania CFR stock company, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Bolea and State Secretary at the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu.

“This Memorandum is about reopening a new circuit and anchoring Moldova in the railway circuit of the European Union and Romania. There has been no traffic on that railway bridge since 1993, and we are extremely interested in reopening this segment,” said Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, after signing the document.

Initially, only freight transport will be allowed on the Prut-Falciu segment, and authorities hope that passenger transport will also be possible, as the reconstruction of the stations and depots in the region progresses.

Vladimir Bolea noted that resuming the railway connection on this segment would bring multiple benefits to Moldovan economic agents, who will be able to take a shorter route for freighting goods, saving time and money.

“In the shortest possible time, the government will provide economic agents from both Moldova and the EU and Romania with the opportunity to use three railway bridges, at Ungheni, Falciu and Giurgiulesti. Most importantly, all three locations will have the European gauge, meaning that the European gauge is entering Moldova on a pretty long segment, which will allow economic activities to develop quite strongly,” concluded Vladimir Bolea.

Customs control will be coordinated, meaning that Moldovan customs and border police will move to the Romanian side, facilitating freight traffic to the benefit of economic agents.

The government of Moldova, through the Budget +Plus project, has allocated financial resources to CFM, with funds to be used for purchasing railway sleepers for the concerned rail segment.

“In the shortest time, we will switch to the procurement process for these sleepers for the reconstruction of about 4 km of railway in Moldova. As a result, we will have both a wide gauge line and a European gauge line,” Vladimir Bolea stated.

State Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu said that the signing of the Memorandum represented an important moment concerning the development of the railway system between Romania and Moldova.

“Practically, the European railway system crosses the Prut into Europe. There is Europe on both sides of Prut, making it normal for the European gauge system to advance into Moldovan territory. In fact, today we started several works to prepare for opening the bridge. We will work on the bridge as well. There has been no traffic on this segment for decades. It must be secured and prepared for reopening to traffic. We have several railway crossings to Moldova which we are enhancing, consolidating and want to use for freight transport. We want a massive freight transport from the port of Constanta to Moldova and vice versa,” emphasized Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu.

The government of Moldova allocated, through the Budget +Plus project, 85 million lei for repairing the access road from Cantemir to the Falciu railway bridge and repairing the Valeni rail segment. By repairing these two points, the authorities aim to restore freight transport on the Giurgiulesti–Cahul–Chisinau railway, allowing 300,000 tons of goods to be transported by rail.