Local businessman Cristian Răspopa has started the procedures to reopen the Romanian steam train Mocăniţa route between Lunca Arieşului and Baia de Arieş, in Western Romania’s Alba county, 20 years after the route was closed. The train will offer regular tourist trips on a distance of 23 kilometers, Mediafax reports.

Another Mocăniţa train is in use in Maramureş, Northern Romania, going from Vişeul de Sus through Paltin and back to its starting point.

The businessman said cleaning works on the tracks have started, with the help of volunteers. The businessman plans to acquire three steam-powered engines and introduce at least two trains on this route.

“I would like to have at least two trains, one leaving from Baia de Arieş, the other from Lunca Arieşului. The two trains should meet on the way. They would circulate either daily, either by appointment. We have to see what we can do to develop the area so that Mocăniţa is not the only tourist attraction,” Răspopa said, quoted by Mediafax.

The businessman also said he is making the investment based on a contract with the state but he cannot estimate the invested sum as he “has no clue” and is not doing the math “so as not to get frightened.”

“We are working on cleaning the tracks from grass and we are cutting the trees that have grown beneath the tracks. If you walk along the track you can see it was a disaster. In some areas various materials were dumped on purpose. At the same time, the tracks need to be completed as they are missing on certain portions, of around 2 kilometers. And around 60-70% of the pieces keeping the tracks in place are missing on this route,” he said.

Last summer, another Mocăniţa train had regular tourist rides on the 11 kilometer long Abrud – Câmpeni route. A train of three cars, with 18 seats each, ran on the route.

The Abrud – Câmpeni and Lunca Arieşului – Baia de Arieş routes are part of a former Mocăniţa route alongside Arieşului valley. The route, which was inaugurated in 1912, used to run for 94 kilometers between Turda and Abrud. It was discontinued in 1997.

The steam-train Mocăniţa used to run in mountain regions, on a narrow gauge, of 760 millimeters.

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editor@romania-insider.com