Rail structure in Moldova and Budjak

Moldova is poor, and has a low-quality rail network, with few external links. The historical explanation is simple: peripheral location within larger states. In the 19th century, it was part of the Russian Governorate of Bessarabia, at the edge of the Russian Empire. The northern end bordered on the periphery of Austrian Galicia. In the …

Prut valley rail line Iași – Galați

The river Prut forms the border between Romania and Moldova, running roughly north-south. For most of the past two centuries, this part of the river was the eastern border of imperial Russia and the Soviet Union. Few roads and railways crossed it. There is no main road along the valley either – and no road …

New high-speed link Brăila – Galați

The proposed Wallachian Plain high-speed rail corridor would link Bucharest (București) to Galați, and could be extended to to Odessa. This post is about the Brăila – Galați section. The new high-speed rail line would run north-east from Bucharest to Urziceni, and then alongside the existing line 700, bypassing Făurei. The result is an almost …

Wallachian Plain high-speed rail corridor to Iași and Galați

A high-speed rail line (HSL) through eastern Romania, was already proposed here, as part of the Kiev – Bucharest HSL. This post describes part of the corridor: a high-speed rail line north-east from Bucharest, across the Wallachian Plain, including new link lines to existing routes. Bucharest (București) has about 2 million inhabitants. The main railway …