RUMANIAN RAILWAY SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R004700150001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 20, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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'1 ;SSIF?ICATIOiNj
CENTRAL INTELLI-3ENCE AGENCY REPORT
MTIP` PR CD NO.
COUNTRY )~awmnia
SUBJECT Rumanian Railway ystem
' AJ'tV @..
ACQUIRE
DATE OF
INFO.
50X1-HUM
DATE DISTR. 20 April 1050
NO., OF PAGES 15
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED DELOW)
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1. General:
The structure of the Rumanian railway system was shaped by historical,
political and geographical factors. These factors account for the div-
ersities in the density, performance and layout of the lines of this
-railway net which constitute the inherant strength and weakness of the
system.
a. The historical development of the Rumanian state is reflected in
Mahe growth of its railway system. The original Principality of Rumania
1:02 d Rumania) with its constituent provinces of Moldavia (the area be-
tween the Carpathians and the Pruth River), and ffallachia- (between the
Carpathians and the Danube River) in 1878 incorporated the hitherto
Turkish Dobruja, the delta area of the Danube River.
After iVorld .'Tax~ I,
in 1918, Bessarabia, the area between the Pruth and the Dniester Rivers,
was acquired from Russia and Transylvania (Siebenbuergen), the l3ukovina
(the headwaters region of the Sireth River) and the eastern part of the
-.i.sza River plain were acquired from Austria-Hungary.
During World 'liar IT, parts of Transylvania and Dobruja were temporarily
lost to Hungary and Bulgaria after the settlement arbitrated in Vienna.
These territories were restored to Rumania after the war but Bessarabia
and Northern Bukovina (the area around Chernovitsi) had to be ceded to
the Soviet Union. The railway systems in these various provinces had
developed along different lines, a development caused by their previous
attachment to different states. The former Austrian--Hungarian districts
possessed a network of railroad lines relatively dense and efficient.
Moldavia and Wallachia on the other hand were equipped with a rather
sparse railroad net in spite of favorable terrain conditions, and
Bessarabia and Dobruja were very poor in railroad lines. In spite of an
Document No.
No Change in 'f,~-
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Aadh,a kip, Iw?2
SEC I.T'0ONTROL s U.S. OFFTCIAI.S ONLY
STATE NAVY
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INF=ORrAXFIo,N
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CONFIDENTIAL
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n r, x .9:a4 1A 94d 4h'y' WJrja &1 rJ C a-F'_J.. eLJ ONLY
CONFIDENT LAL
extensive construction program these historical mars in the
structure of the Rumanian railway system have notMen entire=.
ly eliminated.
b. The Geographical features of the country hod a ,sluilar of-,
foot on the general structure; of the railway syster,: and the
deter.ciinat ion of the courses of railroad lines a From a topo
Graphical point of view, there are the Vollov.71n; distinct rem:
,;ions; The western plain (area of Tiulsoura, Transylvania in
the Carpathians, the plains c;.nd hills to the east (i;:oldavia and
.oobru ja) and south ('.;alla.chia )
(1) The vm6t :shot. as ra very dense wand efficient net radiating;;
a'rora Ti:: i.soara. , xts basic t eaknesa is the lack of interconr.;oe9
t ionsa
(2) The Transylvanian railroad net was adversely affected by
the ,:iount?ainous character of the country which, in pasts, shows
alpine featuresm -.12 lAnjor r;:.ilro;:td lines must follow valleys
and psxssas -,ad consequently have t?m ke lon?; detours ?.:.nd ~1cet
dii'ficulties because of the :zany artificial structures required o
;ll these facts have a detri::aental effect on the carrying cape-
city of these lines e
( ~ ?.'s.llsaeiaica Is crossed by one Eastm.4est trunk line start:,ng
at the port of Con: Manta and running to Tlrilsoara ' via Bucharest-
;raiova. Aft ' Or ..orld =ar it this line was supplemented by the
construction of the Important Craiova-Bucharest-Faurei section.
besides various loc'l feeder lines serving purely econoadiohl~.
interests, the railroad lines to Transylvania ieadI aerosa: the
passes of the Transylvanian Ups branch off to the north from
this trunk line n The most Important crossing is the predeal Pass
(lo4o 4-1), south of Brasov, used by the long=mod1r tance line from
it.xap~.~reWst~~lcaesti (oil district) - Brasov - Cluj (Klausenburg)
?radea . Bud .pest . This lira: is double-track in some seotio.ns 4
n the south fire feeder lines to the Danube ports.
..n the r...oldavian plain the line lea.din fr?o.,, Bucharest via i~uza.u-
zoesani - Bacuu to C-ai f.d: a, now :aoviut E:c: ritor;;5-a is th ? : is .n
traffic lino. This line is oils o pc;,,-tly double-track..
drou it ti.o co.aneetions branch o.,'f to tie ',-cat across the Cr:r-
p:a,thi.ans to Transylvania. These tuo lines have r-ieany brid: es' as
are of a limited cltl) :.city. xro-i the east it is joined by the rail'
road lines "Bessarabia, now ovi6t territory, anL'l the
Dort.a of i:a7ras -..nta 3rai i.a, and falati.
Doss: raNia . ith the, Important double-tr- k Odessa- lobodka-
: or Kiew line h_-.d to be ceded to the soviet;
Union urtcr . `orld -.'car I!,,
uE~ ia-:ticaza araarsoriae:
a, ,s in almost ,-.i.l the other couzatrLM of .uropo, the attaie ,
railways are state-ouned. ?3y decree or 4 :' :.rch 1949, the p ..e-
viously autonoc.zous Diroctorate Genere;.l of the :;ta.te Aailway4,
ENTL`L
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E ~`~"~t~Gai 's 0 f`w? Ge~a~ C.i .L :$ 6xv1Y
wtb
(Uirectinnca Generala d FA) w _is divested of its independence
rnci incorporci.tod as a itailv;uy oe--)-xtment .0e--wrkrt.a'.entul CAfR)
into a. reor; a.nized .;i.nistry of Traffic 50X1-HUM
This ::inistry exerci: cs centr:,,1 technic::;. and adr;uinistrati?tre
control ,:,nd Is in ch~:r;~e of or ;niz ition and planning of the
entire transport and traffic systora of the country. It also
represents the interests or the state in all traffic and trans-
portation atienciaa in -vh1c i the state has had a share after the
nn.tionalizat ion achieved in 1948.
,kn this organization the iailroad Uep -rtment is ch Irf;ed with the
administration, operations and construction of railway lines.
article 1 of the novly decreed law rakes the hauling of goods
r'.nd lu; a; e to and fro.=i the railroad station a respon.sibil:i.ty of
the state ilailways a TO all intents and purposes this established
a state ~-aonopoly for the entir rtapte. althou. h this mono of
has not been enforced so fear. 50X1-HUM
Tho pr int ip.1 e of self 'government for all the major Radrxinistra-
tive: .ti encios (.?.eCional :nd Central )irectorates, etc.) was
decreed by the : --Alroad De.!%,rtr:.ent as the expression of a "re-
volutionary forla o: socialist ra:;na er.ent? in July 1949. dccord-
in, to this decree, these; adiiinistrut ive al;e .cies ~.re honoo
'or th to dra:?, up their rlori, raid production plans the :iselves
In order to sho t-",sir initiative in exhausting, all the ibans
a.~v::ailable to thei:.a They have to tale, inftendently, all the
appropriate steps for the fulfilment of the production plans
The chie' of the district concerned call bear the full respo.n-
si.bi.lity? for all these measures o This +~do :~:ie;rci~l decentra-.
1_ization" probcbl- h, s its real. cause in 4 Gencr,l tendency
tov .rd profit n iforf far this 1dself-adriinistrat1nn~? extends to
lower icvels r-nd to v.ha.t : ieids it v.i11 be restricted cannot
yet be 1dontif:ied a The practical result of this principle re-'
:2ainu to be seen.
b r Feerso. aael or the state 1a ilVTay$
.,tel.at.ble reports have not. been received on this - r has.;-= . The
r-il ay personnd1 is -era mul,ly irell paid. The shorty e. of
technical per?soruiel seems to be acute since, accordin to adver-
tirerents in the daily press a up to 1$900 railroad engineers are
wanted a The GF"R technical schools run 2oC classes in which, in
1948, al7proximately 8,o0C students 1,4ere being trained . The
Institute for Transport qnd,Traffic, in its wt-up similar to
a polytechnic institute 1 is composed of five semesters and has
eharie of training exports in all fields controlled by the T inisa-
try of Traffie. The Institute for Transport and Traffic was .
founded in ,:rte 1948. rt started operating on 30 11overaber 1948
and 25C? students, graduates fror;3 high schools were admitted after
ontr. nce examination. ;bpE rt from this further-
race of the prospective technical railway personnel, vacancies
are still filled rith a greater regard to ~"),._rty affiliations than
of fic l'hus for instance the deputy. CF FZ r..inist..r, #cx ;a st i r
4exa : 'ho s as late as 50X1-HUM
1947, for Ted in the clui railro,.,,d shop. . cr the 4.._:rch 1946
elections he ~,- as :appointed Director Gener,Ul of the ,;t:..te ail."
trays a it is cl e :.r that he lac ?s the necessa.a.ry c,uali.fic.:.ti Ons for
pY
a.' >:`~' t~(,~....~b-,tr, L wa (~ : A .i. tr .t..:~.,.~ rail.Ax,i
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CON H E TIA'
e. Vury strict r :v'ulations vicrc passed in July 1949 by the
:-inistry of Trafi'ic to guarantee the ssefety,oi traffic and
railroad 1nstrkli-,t ions. The establishment' of special pro-
eecutin:_; uuthdrities r>nd railroad tribunals (Tribunalele spar
ciale feroviary?), to be set u i et the seats of the various
a' I e ;i.onai Dire-i:orstes in accordance t- ith a decree promulgated
shortly aft~:a:' card, points up the tendency of establishing
a strict di s'.iplinary procedure in the railwrllr system. The
law took of 'oct on 15 c*'tei.rber 1949.
.y uniforr.ieti 1nd -.),rrmied railway police or ;aniz=at ion is available
for the e,-acution. ~,nd co >.trol of the decreed r easures , This
or ,:.nizat!on is in ch-r:;c of tr.--.In escort duties -.nd the secu-
rity of r .ilroad st.........~~~?~raawA..~,.- .w.~. ..,
Only press reports t hich e:.anot be taken at their f;;ce , Jdue
due to their propagandistic tendencies, are available on this
aspect m ..ailzt;e;,,ient alon,=r, business linos, increased efficiency
and a 1ot'erins of operating costs resultin,_ from it are ths
:acain tendencies pursued by the . t4. to .~nilv:aysa The previous' y
very high railroad tari,'a9 could be lo:rorcd as follows'
.croi.:,lit tariffs by 2c percent on 1 .-."X y 1948
i'assen; er tariffs by 5 percent on 1 ,.. ; 1948 and &G, air,
by 15 percent on 1 $e;?terrber 1948.
The increase in the avera :e daily performance of locomotives
is shown by the following figu.rest
(Kilometers run by one passeneer train locoLiotive) A
1938 95 kilometers per day
1948 ( ,pril) 165 kilometers per day
1948 .,ay) to 167 kilo.Lieters per day
(Kilometers run by one frei:-ht tmin locomotive)
19 8: 95 kilor:retcrs par day
148 (Npril) e 140 kilo.aetcrs pc;r day
1948 (-7.iy) t 149 kilo,;:et?rs per day
There rove,.%l .; Tile
period of jour?rno; of the 'railroad cars was 7A days. The dis-
spatch of 1%-jc86O c:.rs on one day in u.."ust 194E wns the naxineum
perfor;:a:ince reached so i''..r. . The total turn over ftr one month
amounted to .:183.0664 loaded rei_)ilt cars, includirv
l o,836 for
export .^and 17Co,820 for the do,nacotic econor.ay. The dal-
ly perforr;ance for 194E was 5,200 loaded rroi ht c ars0 T.1, ?e
for 1949 fixed the avorc . -e d.ily pertorr;i::..aee at 5 0,3cc
to ded cal'::. .1thou,,h an aalitiie high tr~s reached with an
r,. e3t?~,;;ev of 7,826 loaded railroad ears in Juno 1949s the average
.>ori'crf i'.-'a ;; leas t :,e .'ir rt six months of 19419 (5..49C ;{ors) ~? as
31c c~ r_, sho t o:,' the fixed tarr;eto ..s sueceasfully tested in
ar tr"'.d'f ie , it is now tried in frei ; It traffic operations
to T.chiuve better .results by reducing; -:.he nu.,.ber of chanvtes of
locow,otivos recjuireo on long-distance lines The trial run of
1'r'ei,!, tit train jjo 1 on 16 ;c'ntea.ber 194; on tae
a T^,CG3NTROL/U3 C ': aCT..Ia % ONTLY
C O N V I M N T L A
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14
t .ich.arest-Craiova 'Turnu aeverin*.TTi:;iiso,a:ra line (in Turnu
,scverin tlrc only ch?: n, e of locorrzotivo was via.de) resulted in
a period of journey four hours . s"16-2t or, with a load of 1,000
to 1,650 tons (12 percent above standard). It ney be expected
that this procedure will be continued on a broad basis.
c a passenger traffic shows the same rising tendency. The annued
performance, from 23 ::L ugust 19.4'i 'to 22 ..ugust 1948, amounted to
356,666 trains, that is an increase of 18 percent over the pre-
vious year. The number of train kilometers run increased by
25 percent.
7. *+ilitary vu:Lner.:bility of the 3umaniart aailt~~ay -Not
-The rail:.tary vulnerability of the railway net for the Soviet
transit shipments n- ne, foxy Rumanian inland operations is consti-
tut6d by the following facts: The sr,all number of border cros-
sing stations, (except in the west .Mon,; the hungarian border);.
The numerous aan-made structures in the r.iountainous p-.rt of the
country; the spvrsenews of the railroad not in the south (wal-
l .chic) and east (,,olduvia) of the country; the vulnerability
of the few large railroad junctions.
a. I3order crossings: 'hare -:_rc only five crossings into the
,. ovie;t Union of ihich only t:.-o scam to be in operation. Three
of these croEsin;;s c^n be eli..Iinated by the destruction of the
bridges acro:,s the :-ruth i:iiich forr,;s the border between
:ur;:::nia. a:YCic .,aviet union. lie fourth crossing hear i)ornesti,
on the line from Galicia, c.:;;n be attacked with considerable of-
feet in Galicia. The fifth crossing from Uarpatho -Ukraine
(. zigotkaiiara) is of no importance bec,,.use its feeder lines are
of very lir.aited perf ors i..:_ace since they ,run throw- 11 r'2ountainous
terrain.
Therc -re onl;. V o c6nnections with I ulgaria, one of which (the
rr.iiroad Lorry between Giurgiu and quse) can easily be olosed by
the destruction of the ferry or the -:rininl-of the Danube giver.
Lie other line in the vici . P, fctof the I3laoil ,ea coast can be in-
terrupted .: ith long., lasting by the bombing of the bridge system
between v-etesti and Cernavoda or by the f rrploy-zaont of partisans
a"?. inot these bridges G
The connection > into Yugoslavia, existing only in the area of
Tiraisoara, oaa 'le effectively Interrupted by the elimination of
this junction since rerouting possibilities are not available. The
railroad connections into Hungary are difficult to interrupt because
of the great number of crossin- s and the density of the ratiroad
not in -.,e stern ;Zw;tania. Iio ever, by aerial attacks on the Tirrai
soara, rod, Oradee, and .;atu ..:-.re ra.~ilro:..d junctions, transit traf-
fic could be considerably disturbed although not entirely disrupted.
I3rtte possibilities o int:LL?ru;)tin, ; this traffic are given in
;lu.n;`-,ry on tine ;anube ;.ziv-:r a
ba file nu.?.;e;rous bric,es in mountainous .2r:nsy1vaiiia
are priority targets or the eno. y ir~orce or j~,artisuns. The
di,.ficu.ltica in rebuiluin:these bridges and the l;ck of rerout-
i pose; b_ilitlos i:ould load to lon; -lasting, interruptions o.-L- the
r Lrc - a t r.,.L I A a5::. W?d c.,,.> C' _l. iiic s .
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11,Y C. :E T!
A;A" kn a
v'oulc; be VorZ effActive sinew there arc onl;yr i'ev; rcroutin;, pos-
Slbilities o
d Vulner bility oV railro..d Junctions: Continuous boubint of
the f'ew iiportz,ant r,iilroud juryotion:; v.-ou1c h-,'ve a devast tinC
e~kf ect on r.?.:.ilz oad o-l er tions Nines th.Qro ar?e few reroutin? pos-
sib:ilitic s a 1,uchurost 9 2loesti i t asov, Craiova a Ti:'Lisoara
.nd Cluj t:-ould robrlbl r be the .ost lLport~.nt tamets?
50X1-HUM
3iaareseneas c: the railro:.d net: rho interruption of the
we1