Average speeds of 43-46 km/h – How much will the trains do when traffic is reopened on the direct line Bucharest – Giurgiu

From June, after a 19-year hiatus, trains on line 102 Bucharest Nord – Bucharest Progresu – Grădiștea – Giurgiu will return, but the speeds will not be too high, and the journey Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu will take more than 80 minutes. The Bucharest North – Giurgiu road will be longer.

Bucharest – Giurgiu, trains return after 19 years

Between Gara de Nord and Giurgiu, the average speed will be 43 km/h, and between Bucharest Progresu and Giurgiu, the average speed will be 46 km/h. There are still areas where there is work, there are also speed restrictions, and on the direct line there will be no trains with locomotives and wagons, but only self-propelled ones, because the terrain is weak in the Daia area, 8 km from Giurgiu.

One of the slowest international trains in Europe is Bucharest – Ruse, over three hours over 132 km with a Desiro motor between October and June. In summer there are Bulgarian trains (to Varna and Sofia) and a Turkish train (to Istanbul). And in the following years, international trains to Bulgaria will also run through Videle.

Line 102 Bucuresti Nord – Bucuresti Progresu – Giurgiu has never been a fast one. For example, in 2002, three years before the bridge fell, the Bucharest – Giurgiu trains ran non-stop between 90 and 98 minutes. The Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu trains, which stopped at all 12 stations on the route, took over 90 minutes.

The works in the Grădiștea area have been completed, and the trains should return next month. At what speed will they travel?

“In the relationship Bucharest Nord – Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu, only Regio-class trains will run. A passenger train will cover the distance Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu (61.4 km) in approximately 80 minutes, and the distance Bucharest North – Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu (93.2 km) will be covered in approximately 130 minutes”, says CFR Infrastructură, in a response to HotNews.ro.

There will be 12 speed restrictions on the Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu line, with a total length of 9.5 km.

The maximum traffic speed will be 120 km/h on the rehabilitated area, between Vidra – Grădiștea – Comana stations, respectively 100 km/h on the rest of the distance, the infrastructure company also says in the answers sent.

The loose ground in the Daia area does not allow the passage of heavy trains

Even after the inauguration of the Grădiștea bridge and the reopening of the Bucharest-Giurgiu rail traffic on the direct route, closed since 2005, the train from Varna and Istanbul will still run on the bypass route, via Videle. The same will happen with freight trains, wrote Club Feroviar. The news was first published by the website mainnews.ro.

Daia is 8 km from Giurgiu, 32 km from Grădiștea and 50 km from Bucharest Progresu train station. CFR SA says that temporary maintenance works are being carried out on the superstructure and embankments in the Daia area. Other consolidation works will be carried out when the modernization and electrification project starts.

“As part of the project to modernize the CF line Bucharest Nord – Jilava – Giurgiu Nord – Giurgiu Nord Frontieră – LOT 1: The reopening of railway traffic on the bridge over the Argeș river, between Vidra and Comana, which is currently underway, is being carried out in the Daia area , temporary maintenance works on the CF superstructure and embankments and water collection and drainage works, following that within the project of Modernization of the Bucharest – Giurgiu Nord – LOT 2 CF line (in preparation of the documentation regarding the purchase of the contract for design and execution of works) carry out additional works to consolidate the embankment”, say those from CFR SA.

How long were the Rapide and Accelerated trains on the Bucharest Nord – Giurgiu route (93 km)

1980: 76 – 107 minutes

1989: 93 – 114 minutes

1997: 87 – 112 minutes

2002: 90 – 98 minutes

How long were the personal trains on the Bucharest Progresu – Giurgiu route (61 km) There are 12 intermediate stops

1980: 82 – 115 minutes

1989: 92 – 105 minutes

1997: 93 – 101 minutes

2002: 92 – 101 minutes

A not too fast line

The Grădiștea bridge collapsed in 2005 due to floods, and its reconstruction work was delayed for more than a decade, because no funds were allocated and the project was not considered important. The bridge is located between Vidra and Grădiștea stations, approximately 20 km from Bucharest.

The lack of this bridge terribly lengthens the distance on the railway between Bucharest and Giurgiu, trains being forced to detour via Videle, on lines where speeds have decreased a lot compared to the 90s.

The road is 114 km and there are only three direct trains per day, with journey times of over two hours and three hours respectively.