Think Railways

Regiotrans, Romania's largest private rail passenger operator ceases operations, has suspended its operations until further notice. The Romanian Railway Safety Authority has cancelled its operator licence due to several technical issues identified in 29 railcars, according to the local press. Regiotrans has a fleet of 68 railcars, 10 push pulls and 10 LE locomotives.

RegioTrans launched its services in 2005 using routes leased by RC-CF Trans, a company owned by the same two investors, Costel Comana and Iorgu Ganea, and managed to capture a market share of 15%. The company provides transport services on 40 railway routes, including over 2000 km of network leased. In 2013, Regiotrans reported a turnover of RON 223 million (EUR 50 million).

Recently, the company has been involved in a corruption investigation related to illegal subsidies, resulting in a prejudice of over EUR 5 million over 2008-2013 period. Representatives of the Ministry of Transport and CFR were accused and charged of taking bribery for favouring specific companies during tendering procedures for the awarding of contracts.

Photo: V. Dima