Clear blue sky, clear blue locomotives, clear blue carriages. On February 11, 2025, CFR Călători, the national railways of Romania, presented the first results of a comprehensive project financed by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (Lei 1.15 billion) and the EU National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Lei 590 million, PNRR, Pillar 1/C4/I2). The project’s main goal is to modernize locomotives and passenger coaches to ‘enhance mobility around major socio-economic centres of the country while improving service quality’.
The funds were allocated through 11 tenders to modernise 75 locomotives and 139 passenger coaches. The contracts were signed in December 2023. Six different companies are now working on the projects;
- Softronic: 19x LEMA = 481 001-019 – based on the six-axle LE 5100 design;
- Reloc: 19x ELASMO = 482 001-019 – based on the six-axle LE 5100 design;
- SCRL Brașov: 17x 4-axle locomotive based on LE 3400 design;
- SCRL Brașov: 20x conversion of hydraulic diesel shunting locomotives into battery electric locomotives;
- CFR Grivița: 57 passenger coaches;
- Electroputere VFU Pașcani – 42 passenger coaches;
- Remarul 16 Februarie Cluj – 40 passenger coaches.
All projects must be completed by 01.07.2026 to get the funding.
On cfrcalatori.ro you can follow the different projects very precisely.
White and blue
So far, all rolling stock associated with the project is easily recognizable. They feature a white base color with sections in two shades of blue, separated by a distinctive white horizontal line. The design is the result of a design competition, and it should be noted that the original concept proposed yellow instead of white, in combination with different shades for each type of train.
Tudor Eugen was present to capture the shiny trains under a clear blue sky:
Related posts:
[locomotive] Elasmo! Reloc’s rebuilt class 482 locomotive ready for test
[locomotive] It looks like a Transmontana, but it is not – Softronic’s EA229 for CFR Călători [updated]
[locomotive] ABB and Reloc Craiova: the modernization of electric locomotives for CFR Călători
[RO / Expert] In the picture: E-P Rail’s LEMA 62 at work (+ a peek inside)
