In brief

  • The Government has approved the Railway Infrastructure Development Strategy 2026-2030, a 245-page document that calls for 26.34 billion euro over five years, that is roughly 132 billion lei at the exchange rate of 5.04 lei/euro used in the calculation.
  • The document openly acknowledges the state of the network: the length of sections under speed restriction rose from 696 km in 2021 to 1,688 km in 2025, and 72.56 per cent of running and through lines are due for renewal.
  • Those concerned are passengers and freight operators, but also taxpayers: the strategy states that the amounts are estimates and do not represent immediate funding commitments from the state budget.
Act: Government Decision no. 635/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 688 of 20 August 2026
In force from: 20 August 2026

Your train runs at 30 km/h along entire stretches not because the driver is nervous, but because the rail underneath it can no longer take any more. The Government has just put on paper what it would cost to put an end to this: 26.34 billion euro over five years. Government Decision no. 635 of 19 August 2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 688 of 20 August 2026, approves the Railway Infrastructure Development Strategy 2026-2030. The sum is about fifty times larger than the 500 million euro loan taken out for the A1 Sibiu-Pitești motorway, but it covers the entire railway network, not a single corridor.

The decision itself has only two articles. The first approves the strategy, set out in the annex published separately, in Official Gazette of Romania no. 688 bis. The second requires the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure to publish the strategy on its own website and to send it to the European Commission within 30 days of entry into force. That deadline expires on 19 September 2026.

The obligation is not a matter of courtesy. The strategy is drawn up under art. 8 para. (1) of Law no. 202/2016 on the integration of the Romanian railway system into the single European railway area, a law that transposes Directive 2012/34/EU. Once every five years, the State has to show how much money the infrastructure manager, in this case CFR SA, needs.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is documentary, and it is the most uncomfortable one. The strategy publishes an inventory of wear that leaves no room for interpretation. Of the 13,441 km of running and through lines measured as developed length, 9,753 km, that is 72.56 per cent, are due for renewal. For switches the situation is almost total: 3,211 out of 3,215 have passed the deadline, that is 99.88 per cent. Over 68 per cent of bridges and almost 62 per cent of tunnels are in the same situation.

The second effect is felt directly by the passenger. The document explicitly links the funding figures to speed restrictions: funding repair works at under 20 per cent of the requirement led to a 54 per cent increase in the number of restrictions and to more than a doubling of their length. The table in the strategy shows the trend year by year: 696 km of restrictions in 2021, 600 in 2022, 809 in 2023, 1,331 in 2024 and 1,688 in 2025. The number of restrictions climbed from 368 to 567 over the same period.

The third effect concerns the order of priorities. The strategy places in first position an objective numbered zero, the accelerated recovery of the backlog in infrastructure renewal, ahead of increasing running speed and ahead of the European modernisation projects. This is a shift of emphasis compared with the usual logic of official announcements, which start from new corridors.

The fourth effect concerns the money, and here it pays to read exactly what is written. The total requirement of 26.34 billion euro is split in three: 9.66 billion for maintenance, current repairs and renewal, 10.83 billion for projects eligible for European non-repayable funding and 5.85 billion for other projects. Maintenance alone calls for 6.76 billion euro over five years, that is more than renewal and current repairs put together.

The fifth effect is the one of phasing. The amount for renewal rises steadily, from 175.98 million euro in the first year to 966.67 million in the fifth. In other words, the biggest effort is scheduled towards the end of the period, not at the beginning.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The previous strategy, for the 2021-2025 period, had been approved by Government Decision no. 985/2020. The new document does not contradict it, but finds that it was only partly put into practice, for reasons connected with the political, social, economic and financial context. The new strategy takes over the actions identified back then and confines itself to those that can be started and carried out within a five-year period.

What has changed is the tone. The chapter of final considerations contains an argument that strategic documents usually avoid: that public funding of the infrastructure manager is not an instrument for covering a supposed lack of efficiency at the company, but an obligation of the State imposed by European legislation. The strategy shows that around 75 per cent of CFR SA expenditure is fixed and that, consequently, the cost-cutting measures the company could take are outweighed in value by the effects of legal acts that impose payment obligations on it.

Another change is the way the relationship with road transport is treated. The document explicitly calls for a harmonised charging system for the use of road and railway infrastructure and notes that the State maintains benefits granted mainly to road transport, which affects the competitiveness of the railway.

What has not changed is the legal nature of the figures. At the end of the table the strategy states that the values are estimates and do not represent immediate funding commitments from the state budget, and that projects will be taken over into the activity and performance contract only to the extent that the State identifies the funding sources.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It puts in the Official Gazette of Romania a detailed inventory of wear, item by item, which anyone can quote and check, not only the ministry.
  • It explicitly links the underfunding of repairs to speed restrictions, with figures covering five years, which turns a diffuse grievance into a measurable argument.
  • It places the renewal of the existing network ahead of spectacular modernisation projects, which matches the way infrastructure actually degrades.
  • It opens the way to substantial European funding: 10.83 billion euro of the total are projects eligible for non-repayable funds.
  • It fulfils an obligation assumed towards the European Commission through Law no. 202/2016, which counts when funding applications are assessed.

What remains a problem

  • The amounts are not commitments. The document says so itself, and the precedent of the 2021-2025 strategy, applied only in part, shows what can happen.
  • The biggest financial effort for renewal is scheduled in years four and five, that is after the current budget cycle, which pushes the hard decision into the future.
  • The decision contains no sanction mechanism and no periodic public reporting if the targets are not met.
  • The passenger sees no immediate change. The speed restrictions recorded in 2025 stay on the ground until the actual works reach them.
  • The document acknowledges that infrastructure investment is necessary but not sufficient, and that without public policy measures beyond investment the trend does not reverse.

Practical advice

  1. If you want the full text of the strategy, look for it in issue no. 688 bis, not in no. 688. The decision has two articles; the 245 pages of analysis are in the bis issue.
  2. Keep an eye on the 30-day deadline in art. 2. By 19 September 2026 the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure must publish the strategy on its own website, so you will also have a version that is easy to consult online.
  3. If you work in freight transport, read annexes 10 and 12. That is where the actions on multimodal transport, freight terminals and the TEN-T network sit, and they determine on which routes it will be possible to run decently.
  4. Do not confuse the funding requirement with the allocated budget. The figure of 26.34 billion euro is an estimate of the need, not a sum that has been voted.
  5. For correct comparisons, use the figures in euro. The conversions into lei in the table are made row by row at the rate of 5.04 lei/euro and rounded separately, so the total in lei does not match exactly the direct product.
  6. If you are following a particular project, check it in the activity and performance contract of CFR SA, approved by another decision published on the same day. That is where the projects for which the State has identified funding sources end up.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the strategy cost and who pays?
The estimated requirement is 26.34 billion euro for five years. Of this, 10.83 billion are projects eligible for European non-repayable funds, and the rest is to be covered from sources identified by the State. The document states that the amounts do not represent immediate funding commitments from the state budget.
Why are there so many speed restrictions on the railway?
The strategy links the phenomenon directly to underfunding: repairs were funded at under 20 per cent of the requirement, which led to a 54 per cent increase in the number of restrictions compared with 2021 and to their length rising from 696 km to 1,688 km. A restriction is the procedure by which a defective component can still be used, but safely.
What does it mean that a line is due for renewal?
Technical standards set deadlines by which certain components have to be replaced on a large scale, so that the failure rate returns close to that of a new system. A component that is due has passed that deadline. Among running and through lines, 72.56 per cent are in this situation, and among switches 99.88 per cent.
Where can I find the text of the strategy?
In the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 688 bis of 20 August 2026, pages 3-247. The official edition in PDF format is attached to this article. In addition, the ministry is required to publish it on its own website within 30 days of the decision entering into force.
Will high-speed lines be built?
The strategy includes a specific objective dedicated to integration into the European high-speed railway network, dealt with in annex 13. The number one priority, however, remains recovering the backlog in the renewal of the existing network, not building new lines.
What happens if the money does not come?
The decision provides no mechanism for that situation. The previous strategy, approved by Government Decision no. 985/2020 for the 2021-2025 period, was applied only in part, and the new document notes this without attaching any legal consequence.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 688 of 20 August 2026 8 pages PDF, 72 KB the act starts on page 2

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The other editions cited: nr. 688 bis/2026

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.