A railway bridge connecting Romania and Moldova above the River Prut has been closed to traffic for almost 15 years. Moldovan officials recently assessed the possibility of reopening the line, with a focus on rail freight container traffic.
The currently unutilised bridge used to connect Fălciu, in Romania, with Cantemir, in Moldova. The line is equipped with a dual gauge, as Romania uses the European one (1435 mm) while Moldova has the Russian one (1520 mm). Given Moldova’s path to join the European Union in lieu of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reopening rail links to the west is a key aspect.
Official site visit
Moldovan officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, State Secretary Mircea Păscăluță and State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Irinel Ionel Scrioșteanu visited the Prut-2 railway station, near the closed bridge. They inquired about the rail freight capacity on the line.
“The officials analyzed in detail the existing conditions for transshipment, the available infrastructure, and the opportunities for developing additional facilities, in order to adapt the station to the requirements of modern freight transport”, the Moldovan ministry of transport said. A proper agreement for the reopening of the Fălciu-Cantemir section is expected soon, according to Bolea.
The project would entail the reconstruction of four kilometres of railway, for which Moldova expects financial aid from Romania, he added. This line is one of three rail border crossings between the two countries. However, this one is not in use, as the last service was cancelled in 2012 and the railway has been cut at a junction west of the Prut-1 station in 2019, closing the line once and for all.
