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Better Roads and Railways Thanks to the Association Agreement

Thursday, 30 April 20157583 views
Better Roads and Railways Thanks to the Association Agreement

Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.

Budgetstories.md has published a new infographic and an analytical note setting out how the EU Association Agreement will benefit transport in Moldova. They describe the poor state of roads and railways and the investments and reforms planned to modernise both.

Of Moldova's 3,336 km of national roads, 41% are in good condition, 38% in mediocre condition and 21% in poor or very poor condition. The railway is run by a single operator, ÎS Calea Ferată din Moldova, whose slow trains and rising freight tariffs have cut traffic and market share. The Agreement provides for rehabilitating 1,974 km of strategic roads and over 1,000 km of rail links. The EBRD has allocated EUR 36.3 million for the Bălți – Sărăteni road; EUR 287 million is planned this year for 16 road segments (330 km), plus EUR 105 million from the EBRD and EIB for three rail sections and eight locomotives.

Road safety rules will include tachographs, speed limiters, limits on driving time and EU-based vehicle type approval from 2017. Rail reform will separate passenger and freight services, create a Safety and Supervision Authority, and introduce online tickets and compensation for delays.

View the original article in Romanian