Romania’s new transport minister Felix Stroe announced on Tuesday, October 24, that he would dismiss Marius Chiper, the general manager of the state-owned railways company CFR.

The minister went to Deva by train on Tuesday morning. However, unhappy with the fact that his train had a delay of 50 minutes, the transport minister decided to dismiss CFR’s general manager, according to the local media.

The Transport Ministry announced in a press release that “today’s decision came as a result of an analysis the minister carried out from the moment he took the office.”

The analysis revealed “the poor management of the company and of the railway network, the unjustified delays that are not being communicated to passengers on time, as well as the situation within CFR Infrastructure.”

The new transport minister, who took office last week, said: “The railroad must be revitalized. I do not tolerate unjustified delays, poor management of the CFR infrastructure and the lack of respect for travelers. I want the decision to change the management of CFR Infrastructure to be a first signal that things cannot continue in this way.”

Meanwhile, shortly after the Transport Ministry’s statement, CFR also announced in a press release that Marius Chiper decided to resign for personal reasons.

Marius Chiper has been interim general manager since 2015.

It's not unusual for the trains run by state-owned company CFR to register delays. One of the main reasons is the poor condition of the infrastructure.

Transport minister Felix Stroe also dismissed Mihai Candea, the head of Gara de Nord train station on Monday, October 23. The director of the Bucharest Railways Regional Department, Laurentiu Maraloi, was also released from his post.

Romanian passenger rail carrier modernizes train car to show need for investment

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com