Previously to the derailments involved, I had the opportunity of using the services of the national rail passenger carrier CFR Calatori and the 1.500 km trip by train made me feel for real the ever growing need for investments in rail infrastructure.
Apart from the everlasting cram and delays what really stroke me this time were the scary screeches and shakings I had to endure all the way. If it were not enough, I witnessed a scene in which a yardman was almost run over by a locomotive when he tried to hook it up to a train. Despite being so close to a serious accident, the driver was more concerned about the way his fellow railroad colleague tried to solve a hooking up problem with a hammer. It all ended with a bang, followed by shrugs and the not so convincing ”This should suffice“, which tells a lot about the causes of the series of rail accidents of last month.
I took my ease on the arrival platform and I thought how much it would do if high ranking politicians would travel more often on an ordinary train, so that they could get a glimpse of what Romanian railways safety really means today because of lack of interest from both sides - those with the budgetary bread and butter and those who have to make do with the little money they get to keep the railroads in good order.
