The Republic of Moldova will play an important role in the Eurasian railway transport, by the integration of its section of Corridor IX in the European railway network and the future connections between Western and Eastern Europe. The efficient connections with the EU through Romania will be essential for Moldova’s freight traffic. Likewise, for these projects to be viable, at the political level, Moldova must collaborate with the UE in identifying and solving the problems in the railway system.
In order to optimise the railway container traffic, last year in November, the Moldovan Railway Company with Kazakhstan Temir Joly (KTZ), the Russian Railways (RZD) and Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukraine) decided the elaboration of the project for the assignment of logistics services for the container traffic between China and Western Europe (with transit through the Republic of Moldova via Romania), with the inclusion in the trains of universal freight cars and specialised containers, including refrigerated ones. The transport will use the CIM/SMGS.
According to the railway transport development strategy in the Republic of Moldova, a financing programme was executed, programme which includes several major projects among which the completion of Cahul – Giurgiuleşti line, for which the cost amounts to EUR 16 Million but also the completion of Ungheni – Chisinau line, with a length of 107 km and with a cost estimated at EUR 435 Million.
The development of freight terminals, namely those intended for the intermodal transport, increase the clients’ interest in this railway freight transport and intensify its market share. The geographical position is also an advantage.
The Republic of Moldova is one of the states benefiting from its geographical position on the Eurasian platform and is trying to intensify the railway freight transport sector by developing in Chisinau a terminal for the freight transshipment and transfusion, thus becoming a gate to Europe for the transit of freights coming from the Eastern part.
“One of the projects that we plan to develop is the connection of Chisinau to the city of Iasi through a standard gauge infrastructure of 1435 mm. Transshipment and transfusion alternatives are much more varied in Chisinau than in Ungheni, from the point of view of the existing area. Thus, having a European gauge railway up to Chisinau, we can form a hub to transfer the freight to the CIS countries”, declared Vitalie Struna, General Manager of Moldovan Railways (CFM) in an interview for Railway PRO in 2012.
Moreover, the reopening in April last year of the freight transport on the Transnistrian section (interrupted in 2006 – editor’s note) increases the railways geopolitical importance, for instance, the economic agents in Ukraine could use the Moldovan railways to transit freights to Romania, to the Balkan region, maybe even to the eastern part of the European Union.
The resumption of railway freight transport connections between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria was extremely beneficial for the increase of the freight transit on the Eurasian platform. Transport connections are currently executed under the best traffic conditions, confirmed the representatives of Moldovan Railways.
The main railway nodes of the Republic of Moldova are in Chisinau, Ungheni, Ocnita, Balti and Basarabeasca.
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