Radu Miruță denounces “the height of absurdity at CFR”: Dozens of new trains “have been stuck for months” in Obor Station
Acting Minister of Transport, Radu Miruță, on Friday accused major bureaucratic blockages at the CFR, after discovering dozens of new trains sitting unused, while passengers continue to travel in poor conditions.
“The height of absurdity at CFR: I found 21 brand new, modern trains in the yard of the Ministry of Transport, which have been lying for months to be discolored by the sun. All this time, travelers endure, in some old trains, broken seats, broken toilets and the lack of air conditioning”, wrote Miruță in a message on Facebook, which accompanies a clip filmed with the train seats.
According to the minister, the situation is the result of misunderstandings between the supplier, the project manager and the procurement contract coordinators.
Miruță states that the bureaucracy “also made and agreed by them” is blocking the commissioning of the trains, although they have been delivered for more than a year.
“All this time, the new ones come out of warranty without going 1 km, after which other new “maintenance” contracts appear”, Miruță also said.
In order to resolve the situation, the interim minister announced that he has summoned all the parties involved to a meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, at the ministry's headquarters, one day after the vote in Parliament on the motion of censure that can topple the current Government.
In the video clip, Miruță accused that the Ministry of Transport failed to unblock the situation, so that the new trains could run on the railway.
Both the train manufacturer in Poland and the representatives of the responsible structures within the institution are expected at the discussions.
Miruță also criticized the way in which the contract for the purchase of the 98 trains was negotiated, claiming that no local production component was foreseen.
“Curious by nature, I checked how much localization in Romania was requested by contract by the Minister of Transport for the construction of the 98 trains and how many Romanian companies were involved in this contract. Zero localization, nothing produced in Romania, no Romanian company. Some people I hear these days that 60% production through SAFE, with factories built in Romania, is not enough, are those who, for larger amounts, signed contracts with 0 localization in Romania, with 0 companies Romanians involved”, Miruță also said.
Contracts for Polish trains
Romania signed two important contracts with the Polish manufacturer Pesa Bydgoszcz for the modernization of the railway fleet, according to Club Feroviar.
One of them, for 62 units purchased for the amount of 2.77 billion lei (including VAT), was signed in January 2024. Three batches of 20, 23, and 19 frames were foreseen. The contract is financed from the Modernization Fund of the European Union.
Another contract was made for the purchase of 20 long-haul RE-IR interregional electric frames, intended to connect urban centers in Romania and the purchase of maintenance and repair services. The total value of the contract, initially financed by PNRR, signed in December 2023, was over 1.6 billion lei (without VAT). In May 2025, an additional act was signed for nine more trains, with financing through the Modernization Fund.
However, the new trains delivered so far cannot be put into commercial service with passengers because the Polish manufacturer has not yet built any of the four maintenance facilities that it committed to establish through the two contracts, according to Club Feroviar.
