Romania Upgrades Strategic TEN-T Railway Line within the Rhine–Danube Corridor

Romania’s railway infrastructure manager CFR SA has selected the TrackWorks consortium, comprising TERNA and Alstom Romania, to implement two contracts totaling €992.6 million for the design and reconstruction of sections of the Craiova – Drobeta-Turnu Severin – Caransebeș railway line. The entire corridor spans 226 km in southwestern Romania.

This railway forms part of the Rhine–Danube Corridor within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and is also integrated into the strategic Bucharest – Timișoara main line. The current contracts cover two sections with a combined length of 83 km: Craiova – Filiași (Lot 1) and Filiași – Igiroasa (Lot 2). The contract duration is 48 months, including 12 months for design and research activities and 36 months for construction works.

The project aims to increase passenger train speeds to 160 km/h and freight train speeds to 120 km/h, raise axle load capacity to 22.5 tons, construct a second track, electrify the line at 25 kV AC, and deploy the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2.

Earlier contracts for Lots 4, 5, and 6 were awarded to international consortia, while Lot 3 — scheduled for tender in September 2026 — is expected to cost approximately €1.21 billion due to the construction of the 6.19 km double-track Balota tunnel.

Commentary by the Institute of Danube Research

Experts at the Institute of Danube Research emphasize that this modernization has significance beyond Romania, strengthening the eastern segment of the TEN-T Rhine–Danube corridor and enhancing connectivity across Central and Southeastern Europe.

For Ukraine, the upgrade creates additional opportunities for strategic integration into modernized European corridors through Danube and cross-border nodes. In the long term, Romania’s infrastructure modernization contributes to building a more resilient and interoperable transport system in the Danube–Black Sea region, which is crucial for export logistics and Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction framework.