Romania wants to limit unscheduled freight train traffic to the port of Constanta

The Romanian Ministry of Transport has prepared a draft order that should restrict access to the port of Constanta for freight trains arriving outside the approved schedule.

This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Radu Miruce.

According to him, the new rules should streamline the planning of rail freight transportation – from the arrival of ships at the port and shunting work to transit through Romanian territory and delivery of wagons to loading points.

If a train is late due to the actions of CFR, the railway and port operators will not be fined, and will be able to accept another train from the already agreed schedule instead.

If the delay is due to the fault of the railway operator, sanctions will be applied to it, while the maritime operator will not be liable.

At the same time, it is planned to prohibit the passage of unscheduled trains before those that already have a designated place in the queue. In case of violation, operators may lose the loading queue and receive increased fines.

Miruce noted that the current practice led to long-term downtime of wagons on the approaches to the port, while other trains were given priority. According to him, this effectively turned the wagons into “warehouses on wheels” and complicated the work of freight logistics.

The draft order is currently submitted for public discussion.

Earlier, USM reported that Romania plans to accelerate grain exports through the port of Constanta.