The fastest train in ROMANIA - INTERCITY

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• published: 11 Aug 2014
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Caile Ferate Române (abbreviated as CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. The railway network of Romania consists of 11,380 km (7,070 mi), of which 3,971 km (2,467 mi) (34.9%) are electrified, and the total track length is 22,247 km (13,824 mi), of which 8,585 km (5,334 mi) (38.5%) are electrified. The network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks, providing pan-European passenger and freight services. CFR as an entity has been operating since 1880, even though the first railway on current Romanian territory was opened in 1854. CFR is divided into four autonomous companies: CFR Calatori, responsible for passenger services; CFR Marfa, responsible for freight transport; CFR Infrastructura, manages the infrastructure on the Romanian railway network; and Societatea Feroviara de Turism, or SFT, which manages scenic and tourist railways. CFR is headquartered in Bucharest and has regional divisions centered in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Ia?i and Timi?oara. Its International Union of Railways code is 53-CFR The first railway line on Romania's present-day territory was opened on 20 August 1854 and ran between Oravi?a in Banat and Bazia?, a port on the Danube. The line, which had a length of 62.5 km, was used solely for the transportation of coal. From 12 January 1855, the line was operated by Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company, the Banat province being at that time part of the Austrian Empire. After several improvements in the following months, the line was opened to passenger traffic from 1 November 1856. Between 1864 and 1880, several railways were constructed in the area of the Kingdom of Romania. On 1 September 1865, the English company John Trevor-Barkley began construction on the Bucharest--Giurgiu line. Commissioned by the King of Romania, the line was opened to traffic on 26 August 1869. The Bucharest-Giurgiu line was the first railway built on Romanian territory at that time (considering that the Oravita-Bazias line was part of Austria-Hungary, even though it now lies on Romanian territory). In September 1866, the Romanian Parliament voted for the construction of a 915 km railway, from Vârciorova in the south to Roman in the north, via Pite?ti, Bucharest, Buzau, Braila, Gala?i and Tecuci, all important population centres. The price for the construction was at that time 270,000 gold francs per kilometre and was contracted to the German Strousberg consortium. The line was opened in various stages, the first stage (Pite?ti--Bucharest--Gala?i--Roman) being opened to traffic on 13 September 1872, while the Vârciorova--Pite?ti segment was opened some time later, on 9 May 1878. The Vârciorova-Roman line was an important part of Romania's rail infrastructure because it spanned the entire Kingdom and provided an important connection for passengers and freight between several significant Wallachian and Moldavian cities. On 10 September 1868, Bucharest's Gara de Nord (North Station) was finalised. On January 1880, the Romanian Parliament voted to transfer the ownership of the Vârciorova-Roman line from the private administration of the Strousberg consortium to state ownership, under the administration of CFR. 1880 therefore marks the start of the Caile Ferate Române institution which survives to this date. The first administration of CFR was made up of Lords Kalinderu, Statescu and Falcoianu. On May 1868, the Romanian state concluded an agreement with another German consortium, known as the "Offenheim Consortium", for the construction of several shorter railways in the region of Moldavia. The lines, which had a total length of 224 km, would run from Roman to I?cani, from Pa?cani to Ia?i and from Vere?ti to Boto?ani. In 1870, the Ia?i railway station was inaugurated and the lines were progressively opened from December 1869 to November 1871. Due to the poor management of the lines by the Offenheim Consortium, they were placed under the management of CFR in January 1889. Meanwhile, during the Romanian War of Independence in 1877, Romania annexed the region of Dobrogea, which had previously belonged to the Ottoman Empire. The Romanian state placed under the management of CFR the Constan?a--Cernavoda line, which had been opened during the Ottoman times in 1860. The Bucharest-Giurgiu line, the first line constructed in the Kingdom of Romania, was also placed under the administration of CFR during this time. Hence, by 1889, the Romanian state became the owner of all of the lines in the Kingdom of Romania, the railway system having a total length of 1,377 km.