The direct railway line between Gara de Nord, Bucharest’s main train station, and the Otopeni Airport (Henri Coanda Airport) will not be ready in time for the European Football Championship in 2020, according to Ion Gavrila, the general manager of railways company CFR, local Hotnews.ro reported.

The project was announced in the fall of 2016, when the transport minister at that time, Sorin Buse, said the work would be completed in 2018. However, according to the CFR GM, the railway line will not even be ready by 2020.

Gavrila also talked about an alternative to this direct railway line, namely buses that would take tourists to the train station in Otopeni. The authorities plan to modernize this train station, and build a road for the buses between the train station and the airport, as well as a terminal at the Otopeni airport.

“We tried to do the other version too, but there are 90% chances that the DN1 under-crossing can’t be done until the European Championship because of the Otopeni City Hall. We had an attempt to discuss about the authorization, I understood that they told us about the PUZ (the urban zonal plan e.n.),” Gavrila said. He added that the PUZ takes at least one year.

Asked if the authorities will completely drop the idea of a direct railway line between Bucharest’s main train station and the Otopeni airport, the CFR general manager said that it’s not the case, but that the line would not be ready before 2022.

The project of the train line involves the construction of 2 km of new track, an underground passage crossing the DN1 national road, and a railway station at the airport.

Meanwhile, the local Construim Romania Association said it was “surprised” by the CFR GM’s statements. It said that any construction work needs the urban planning documentation (PUZ). However, it also added that, according to an Emergency Ordinance issued last year, a project of transport infrastructure of national interest that is included in the Romanian Master Plan of Transport can get the building permits "without the prior development and approval of a land or urban planning documentation".

“To complete the work, 2.3 km of new railway should be built on the section Odaile - Henri Coanda Airport, part of the project “Gara de Nord – Henri Coanda”, project code F032, from the Master Plan of Transport of Romania,” reads the Association’s statement.

Thus, Construim Romania Association urged the CFR general manager and the railways company to “change their position and urgently take the necessary steps to start the project.”

Romania will host four matches at the European Football Championship in 2020 on Bucharest’s National Arena. One of UEFA’s requests for including Bucharest among the cities to host EURO 2020 matches was that the local authorities build a direct connection from the airport to the city center.

2020 is also the most recent deadline announced for the subway line connecting Bucharest to the Otopeni airport. Former transport minister Felix Stroe said in December last year that this new line would certainly be completed by 2020, when Romania will host matches of the European Football Championship. However, the deadline is very tight, as the Government hasn’t yet selected a contractor for this project. The construction work should start in the second half of 2018 and be completed in two years, which means that the metro line may not be ready by the start of Euro 2020.

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