Cluj-Napoca – Oradea – Episcopia Bihor railway rehabilitation
EU-funded electrification and rehabilitation of the main railway between Cluj-Napoca, Oradea and the Hungarian border at Episcopia Bihor (166.2 km, TEN-T Rhine–Danube Corridor), let as four design-and-build lots. In March 2026 Prime Minister Bolojan set 2028 as the target for finishing all four lots.
- Total length
- 166 km
- Open today
- 0 km
- Under construction
- 166 km
- Sections
- 4
- Cost on record
- €1.9B
- 4 of 4 sections carry a comparable figure
Restated into EUR at 2025 prices.
Sections
| Sections | Status | Length | Timeline | Cost | Funding | Contractors | Contract terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1: Cluj-Napoca – Aghireș Contract signed 30 December 2022, works started 30 January 2023. CFR's August 2026 report puts physical progress at 75% and the end of works in H2 2027. | Under construction 45 of 36 contracted months 9 months past the contract date | 30 km |
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| 6 mo design · 36 mo execution · 42 mo total · Contract value lei 1.6B |
| Lot 2: Aghireș – Poieni Contract signed 21 December 2022, works started 25 January 2023. CFR's August 2026 report puts physical progress at 76% and the end of works in H2 2027. | Under construction 45 of 36 contracted months 9 months past the contract date | 37 km |
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| 6 mo design · 36 mo execution · 42 mo total · Contract value lei 1.5B |
| Lot 3: Poieni – Aleșd Contract signed 10 November 2022, works started 16 January 2023. Length 52.74 km per CFR's August 2026 report (53 km at signing). The report puts physical progress at 38.96% and the end of works in H1 2029, the latest of the four lots. In March 2026 Prime Minister Bolojan asked the builders to speed up and set 2028 as the target for all four lots. | Under construction 45 of 36 contracted months 9 months past the contract date | 53 km |
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| 6 mo design · 36 mo execution · 42 mo total · Contract value lei 2.1B |
| Lot 4: Aleșd – Hungarian border (Episcopia Bihor) Runs through Oradea to Episcopia Bihor and the Hungarian border. Contract signed 7 December 2022 (2,416.85 M lei excluding VAT, 42 months), works started 23 January 2023. About 14 km of new track between Tileagd and the Oșorhei halt reopened to trains on 31 March 2026 at 50 km/h, rising to 120 km/h and to 160 km/h once the whole project is finished; the catenary masts are in place but not yet electrified. CFR's August 2026 report puts physical progress at 59.29% and the end of works in H2 2028. | Under construction 45 of 36 contracted months 9 months past the contract date | 47 km |
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| 6 mo design · 36 mo execution · 42 mo total · Contract value lei 2.4B |
Contractor roles are as recorded in the award. Only builders count toward the delivery rankings.
Funding
- European Union333 km8 sections
- PNRR, Component 4 (Sustainable transport): stage I of the works
- Programul Transport 2021-2027: stage II of the works
- National budget166 km4 sections
- Co-financing
A section that lists two sources counts its full length under each: the data records which sources paid, not what share each one carried.
Related projects
- RailwaysCaransebeș – Timișoara – Arad railway modernisationSame contractor: Alstom, Arcada Company, FCC Construcción, Salcef, Webuild
- RailwaysFrontieră – Curtici – Simeria railway rehabilitation (Corridor IV)Same contractor: Alstom, Arcada Company, FCC Construcción, Salcef, Webuild
- TunnelsRomanian railway tunnelsSame contractor: Alstom, Arcada Company, FCC Construcción, Salcef, Webuild
- RailwaysCluj-Napoca Metro Line M1 (Florești – Cluj-Napoca)Same contractor: Alstom, Arcada Company, Gülermak
- HighwaysS7 expressway (Gdańsk – Elbląg – Warszawa – Radom – Kielce – Kraków – Rabka)Same contractor: Gülermak, Webuild
- HighwaysA1 Bucharest–Nădlac MotorwaySame contractor: FCC Construcción, Webuild
Corridors
The designations this project is recorded under. Both schemes are kept: the Pan-European corridors are how these projects were described when they were planned, and TEN-T is what EU money is allocated on today.
- TEN-T Rhine–Danube CorridorTEN-T
Sources
- CFR SA: Stadiul proiectelor de reabilitare/modernizare infrastructură feroviară, August 2026read Sep 25, 2026
- CFR SA: Electrificarea și reabilitarea liniei de cale ferată Cluj-Napoca – Oradea – Episcopia Bihorread Sep 25, 2026
- Economica.net: Calea ferată Cluj – Oradea: toate contractele pentru electrificarea liniei au fost semnate (2022-12-30)read Sep 25, 2026
- HotNews.ro: CFR SA a semnat contractul de 2,1 miliarde lei pentru 53 de km de cale ferată din Transilvania (2022-11-10)read Sep 25, 2026
- Economica.net: Calea ferată Cluj – Oradea: CFR a semnat contractul pentru lotul 2 cu asocierea Arcada – Alstom (2022-12-21)read Oct 2, 2026
- Economica.net: Cluj – Oradea – Episcopia Bihor, semnat contractul pentru lotul de la graniță cu Webuild (2022-12-07)read Sep 25, 2026
- Economica.net: Bolojan le cere constructorilor lotului Poieni – Aleșd să accelereze ritmul lucrărilor (2026-03-13)read Sep 25, 2026
- CFR SA: 17 mai 2022 – CFR SA a primit 19 oferte pentru Electrificarea și reabilitarea liniei CF Cluj Napoca-Oradea-Episcopia Bihor-Frontierăread Sep 28, 2026
- CFR SA: Redeschiderea circulației feroviare pe tronsonul Tileagd – Oșorhei (2026-03-31)read Oct 2, 2026
- OpenStreetMap contributors (geometry of CFR line 300, ODbL)read Oct 2, 2026