The Moldovan state-owned rail company CFM recently took important steps towards improving traffic to and from Romania. The company started modernising the transshipment facilities in Berești (Ungheni) and put to tender the reconstruction and electrification of the Moldovan section of the Ungheni-Iași line.
The works for the station in Berești cover a 580-metre section of track and include the replacement of 350 sleepers, track alignment and rehabilitation of the infrastructure serving the container transhipment platform. The objective is to restore the facility’s ability to transfer containerised freight between the Moldovan broad-gauge and the Romanian standard-gauge wagons.
So far, CFM has not disclosed the investment value, financing arrangements, contractor or expected completion date. In addition to reinstate container transhipment, CFM intends to use the facility to attract additional freight flows and connect Moldova with the wider European railway network.
Iași-Ungheni tender
The tender for the design and electrification of Moldovan part of the Iași-Ungheni line, the main border crossing for Moldova, is valued at roughly €5.6 million. Interested parties can submit their bids until 21 November. The contract also includes the modernisation of the cross-border Eiffel bridge over the River Prut.
The contract also covers reconstruction of the railway infrastructure and 1435 mm-gauge tracks at Ungheni station, installation of a 25 kV, 50 Hz overhead electrification system, including traction power supply equipment, and modifications to signalling, interlocking and telecommunications systems. Existing utility networks affected by the works will also be protected or relocated.
Connecting gauges
The Moldovan procurement forms part of a wider €67.63 m cross-border investment, for which a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding agreement was signed in September 2025. The EU has allocated maximum grants of €30.23 m for Romania and €3.58 m for Moldova, with the remaining eligible costs to be covered by the two countries’ railway infrastructure managers.
On the Romanian side, infrastructure manager CFR has launched a separate procurement, valued at RON 289.55 m (€58 m), for design and construction of the Iași–border section. The Romanian works include electrification of 23.4 km of single track between Socola yard, southeast of Iași, and the border. The Moldovan part is 1.6 km long. The line from Socola to Ungheni is dual gauge – 1435 and 1520 mm.
The overall project is intended to increase the permitted speed for freight and passenger trains from 50 to 80 km/h, provide for a 22.5-tonne axle load and improve cross-border railway capacity. The project is scheduled for completion in February 2029 and forms part of the TEN-T network linking the Baltic, Black and Aegean seas.