Locomotives break down more and more often, spare parts are scarce, repairs take a long time, and then not for long. There is no money for consumables, some security and alarm systems are over 50 years old, and the infrastructure and rolling stock are barely afloat with such a small investment.

Locomotives over 50 years old, with “aged” and worn parts

CFR Călători’s locomotive fleet has an average age of over 45 years (according to other sources 52 years) and more and more we hear about locomotives catching fire or passenger trains where the locomotive breaks down and the same thing happens with the one sent to help

The locomotives are old, they have many operational problems, and not all of them can be solved in the workshops, not all major repairs have been made or some are only “on paper” and not in the workshop. In addition, since there are not enough locomotives in the current fleet, many of them do not have time for all the overhauls, and if all the overhauls were done, it would be impossible to form all the trains included in the Merse. Essentially, if revisions were made “by the book”, there would be many instances where the train could no longer be formed because it would not have a “wagon” to pull it.

• PHOTO/VIDEO Railway accident in Galatasaray: the needle of the locomotive’s speedometer got stuck at the mark of 75 kilometers per hour / Video of the accident

Locomotives catch fire, break down or don’t work properly, and because they are so old, cables and various parts have degraded. Some were changed, but only a small part. Motors and conductors are worn, some components no longer make proper contact, sparks occur, leaks occur, or some critical systems no longer respond to commands.

Nothing was done with the purchase of new locomotives for the last decade, although there were promises. There is no new rolling stock, new trains are difficult to get, many tenders have been suspended.

Something much more serious happened in Galata, because the locomotive, which was supposed to approach the train at a very low speed, hit the carriage with force. Most people talked about the possibility of a malfunction of a mechanical device called a gradator, that is, a system that controls the speed of a locomotive. This slider seems to have picked up speed beyond the mechanic’s control. As the arbitrators say, the grader “took steps”.

• PHOTOS The first images of a train hit by a locomotive at Galatz station

In a civilized country, locomotives older than 45 years would be removed from service and replaced with new ones, or electric trains or diesel frames. These locomotives have been repaired in the past, but they are still old, worn and used at almost maximum capacity.

Over the past three decades, the number of locomotives in Romania has decreased by more than 50%, and almost nothing has been purchased for passenger transport.

Bârsești case, two locomotives collided in 2016

In November 2016, two CFR Marfă locomotives arriving on the same line collided on the freight train line in Gorža. Both drivers died, one tried to jump from the locomotive.

The reason, according to AGIFER, was the incorrect installation of the regulator control system, which had passed homologation. The assembly was performed incorrectly, because not all connections of the system in question (SAGMA) are completed. In addition, it was found that this system was not insensitive to voltage fluctuations in the network or to the electromagnetic fields that appeared. You can read more here.

We remind you that on Saturday evening at Galats station, a double-decker car standing on line No. 4, waiting for the formation of the train on the Galats – Mereshest route, collided head-on with a locomotive that was going to pull a set.

The speedometer needle of a locomotive that crashed into a passenger train car was stuck at 75 kilometers per hour, and the driver says the locomotive “suddenly accelerated” and he could no longer control the braking system, Galati County police said.

• Director of CFR Călători after the accident in Galaţi: I assume the actions or omissions of any employee, but not the chronic underfunding of the railway system

The female conductor who died in the accident was 53 years old, she had five cardiac arrests, and despite efforts, she could not be saved.

Thousands of coupling maneuvers between locomotives and wagons are performed every day on the railway, the locomotive usually runs at a speed of 15 km/h and 1-2 meters before reaching the wagons, it stops and then starts again, approaches the wagons and performs the coupling maneuver .

• Why did the authorities NOT say from the beginning that the trains collided in Teleorman. Head of CFR Călători: I decided not to give a statement, but I got in the car and drove to Rosiori

It is clear that the main braking system failed in Galaka, which is why the usual maneuver ended in such a serious accident. It should be noted that on discussion groups of railway workers, many believe that the collision did not occur at a speed of 75 km/h, as the damage would have been much greater.

A neglected field close to collapse

But the problem is also related to things that mechanics and trade unionists have been paying attention to for many years. There is a severe shortage of mechanics, at least 400 at CFR Călători, many work overtime and eventually burn out.

Apart from the technical aspects of the Railway Staff Status Act, the clerks working in the field are very upset by the fact that working conditions are getting tougher, many installations are over 50 years old, and the average age of workers is increasing. higher, and too few young people want to work in the fields.

The most disadvantaged are those who are always on the ground, those who have to intervene when trees fall on the railway or when a freight train derails, a contact line breaks and an embankment collapses. And the workers of the repair workshop say that they do not have the resources to make the necessary repairs to the locomotives.

In recent years, there have been videos and photos of the interior of locomotives from the 60s, where in winter the cabin temperature is 5 degrees and there is rust everywhere, in contrast to the interior of new locomotives in neighboring countries. If Bulgaria, Ukraine or Serbia, not to mention Austria or Poland, bought new locomotives in the last decade, Romania failed to do so.

In many places you can see cracked rails or damaged sleepers and rusted sleepers. And the dredges with which they intervene are extremely old, and new machines have been purchased, but not much compared to what is needed.

Some Cepherists say that at such a torturous pace, a catastrophe with many victims could happen at any time.

As in other industries, there is a big difference in pay and working conditions in the railways between those who work in the field and those who work in the offices.

If you ask a 5-year-old child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” most likely he will answer “locomotive mechanic”. But when he grows up, the child will not become a locomotive driver, but will choose, perhaps, a job with more money or better working conditions. Very few young people want to be mechanics and very few want to work in any branch of the railway.

Having worked all their lives in the field, many railway workers get sick on pension or receive only 2-3 years due to difficult working conditions or unheated premises in which they served.

In 1998, SNCFR was divided and five national companies and societies were created based on the old organizational structure, and none of them are “on top” today, some of them are collapsing. Many say this is the moment when the decline of Romanian railways accelerated.

On March 13, there was an accident in Rosior, on March 25 – in Galatsi. No high-ranking official has resigned, neither the Minister of Transport nor the head of CFR Călători, although many have asked them to. It is very sad that even resignations will not change the situation for the better, because it would take a miracle to “revive” the railway sector in Romania.