The demolition of the Deva station has aroused numerous controversies and debates. One year after the intervention, instead of the former building there is still a crater covered with vegetation.
Deva Municipality Station, decommissioned building. Photo: Daniel Guță. TRUTH
Seven years have passed since the beginning of the works at the new railway bus Simeria – Arad, and the CFR Deva station, one of the first sections in the 141 -kilometer railway site, remained in a bleak state.
Gara Deva was partially demolished in the summer of 2024, a part of the former passenger building erected in the 1980s being transformed into rubble.
Forgotted Station, one year after demolition
The other half remained decommissioned, the modernization works being stopped a year ago. Since then, to the dissatisfaction of many locals, who complain that the yard affects the image of the Deva, the works have not been resumed at the Devei station.
Instead of the demolished building, there was a crater over which the vegetation increased, bordered by the abandoned construction, used in the past by the employees of the station and by passengers.
Gara Deva. Photo: Daniel Guță Adevărul
Officials of the Ministry of Transport announced in 2024 that the decision of partial demolition of the building was taken after a technical expertise showed that its resistance structure could not support the modernization works of the 1980s.
“When they started the rehabilitation work they found that it did not keep what was shown in the initial expertise, which was done, in my opinion, from the office, without making surveys and non-destructive tests of the concrete and foundations. It could be built that elevator and the third floor. He then explains Mara Paraipan, integrity warning within the Ministry of Transport.
The birds and passages left and they are unfinished
Both the train station, but also the neighboring building, a railway traffic regulator, have not been restored in the last year.
Located in the yard since 2019, the new pedestrian walkway, which connects the CFR station to be equipped with an elevator, remained unfinished.
Gara Deva, in the site. Photo: Daniel Guță Adevărul
In the vicinity of the CFR station, another pedestrian walkway over the railway lines, are in the same situation, and the works on the Road Passage in Deva, started in 2018, are also waiting for the completion.
Two other roads similar to the new railway bus, built in Mintia and Ilia, also arrived at the end, after six years since the start of projects, but have not yet been inaugurated. The three passages have lengths between 260 and 375 meters, the longest being at Ilia (video).
In 2026, the reports of the Ministry of Transport shows, it is estimated to complete the works on the Simeria – Gurasada railway section, which includes all the delayed art works in the Deva area.
The bus could be inaugurated in 2028
The new railway bus Simeria -Rad (kilometer 614), in western Romania, built largely on the route of the oldest railway in Transylvania, opened in 1868, has been in the site since the beginning of 2018, after the works contracts were signed in 2017.
The 141 kilometers of the railway on the Mureș Valley, in Hunedoara and Arad counties, have been divided into four sections, but so far none of them have been completed.
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Gara Deva Photo Daniel Guță Adevărul (1) JPG
The Ministry of Transport recently informed about the progress of the works and the estimates about the completion and inauguration of each section.
On the subtronson 2A, between kilometer 614 and Bârzava (Arad county), the physical stage of the works reached 96.6 percent. The section has a length of 41.9 kilometers, and its construction represented an investment of 403 million euros, contracted by Webuild Spa, FCC Construction SA, Salcef Group Spa and Hitachi Rail GTS Romania.
The works on the ERTMS2 system are in the testing phase, with estimated operating term for 2027. The European Rail Traffic Management System, level 2 (ERTMS2), is a European standard management and control control, which involves control of traffic through a digital radio system, mandatory for new high speed or modernized lines.
On the subtronson 2B, Bârzava – Ilteu (Arad county), the physical stage of the works reached 93.9 percent, the Ministry of Transport shows. The ERTMS2 system is working, and the reception is provided for 2026.
This section measures 36 kilometers, and the value of the contract is 422.3 million euros. The works are performed by Webuild Spa, FCC Construction SA, Salcef Group Spa and Hitachi Rail GTS Romania. In July, traffic was opened on a new railway route, 13 kilometers, between Bârzava and Vărădia, in Arad county. On this route was built a tunnel of about 650 meters, in Bătuța.
The tunnel beaten. PHOTO Pro Infrastructure Association Facebook
On the subtronson 2C, Ilteu – Gurasada (Hunedoara county), the physical stage of the works is 79.3 percent, the reception being provided for 2027, with the completion of the works on the railway tunnels on the Mureș Valley.
This subtronson is 22.3 kilometers long, and the contract of 361.9 million euros was awarded in 2017 to the association Aktor SA, Alstom Transport SA and Arcada Company SA
On the section between Arad and Hunedoara counties are built two tunnels and a polar (wall tunnel), with a total length of about 1.2 kilometers (video).
One of the tunnels, in length of 340 meters, was excavated, the second, 610 meters, was excavated in half, and at the third, of 227 meters, the excavations did not start, currently having works at the entrance portal.
Trains will run with 160 km/h
Section 3, between Gurasada and Simeria (Hunedoara county), has a length of 40.9 kilometers and a contractual value of 630.2 million euros. The ERTMS2 system is working, and the reception of the works is estimated for 2026. The builders are the association FCC Construction SA, Webuild SPA and CONTESTAS Y VENTAS SA.
The works have reached a progress of 87.4 percent. On the Gurasada – Simeria section, a new route, about six kilometers, comprises three bridges over the Mureș river, in the Brănișca area (video). The opening of the traffic on the new variant of the route between Vețel and Bretea Mureșană (interval Mintia – Ilia) is estimated for September 2025, recently informing CFR.
The project of the new railway bus Simeria -Rad (up to kilometer 614) aimed at modernizing the railway infrastructure and reconfigurating the route, so that the speed of train traffic can increase to 160 kilometers per hour.
He imposed the construction of 60 kilometers of a completely new railway route, between Simeria and Arad, of some tunnels, but also the lifting of nine bridges over Mureș, while the only bridge over Mureș, located on the old route, in Brănișca, will no longer be used, on the new route. With the completion of the works at the railway bus, the duration of a trip between Simeria and Arad will be reduced to less than an hour and a half.
