The Romanian government approved the railway infrastructure development strategy for the 2026-2030 period, establishing a foundational framework for national railway carrier Căile Ferate Române (CFR) to secure its contract and address decades of underfunding.
Decades of insufficient capital allocations, covering less than half of actual network needs between 2021 and 2025, left 72.56% of railway lines overdue for renewal by 2025. This deterioration caused reduced passenger and freight market shares.
The new strategy targets clearing maintenance backlogs, enhancing domestic rail competitiveness, and integrating into the Single European Railway Area. Aligned with Romania’s General Transport Master Plan (GTMP), the initiative seeks to redirect traffic from roads to railways, lowering national transport costs and modernizing European corridors in partnership with the European Commission.