Webuild and its consortium partners will build Lot 4 of the railway that will connect Cluj-Napoca and Episcopia Bihor in northwestern Romania. The award of the contract will become effective once all the foreseen tender procedures have been completed. Webuild is leader of the consortium with a 50% stake whilst partners are Pizzarotti with 30% and Salcef at 20%.
Lot 4 entails the design and construction of the modernization and electrification of approximately 50km of existing railway, including five stations at Tilegad, Osorhei, East Oradea, Oradea, and Episcopia Bihor in the country’s northwest near the border with Hungary.
Commissioned by CFR, Romania’s national railway company, the project will be financed by European Union funds via Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Lot 4 belongs to a wider program to modernize and electrify more than 166km of the Cluj-Napoca-Oradea-Episcopia Bihor line.
The planned interventions will guarantee the technical conditions for passenger trains to travel at 160km per hour and at 120km per hour for freight trains. It will increase the comfort and safety of the rail service and make it more competitive than road travel. Not only will it reduce travel times between the connected cities, but it will also limit CO2 emissions.
The interventions will furthermore improve connections between Romania’s rail network and those of the rest of Europe thanks to Level 2 of the European Rail Traffic Management System, while reducing the existing line’s operational and maintenance costs.