Moldovan PM convenes meeting to consider draft rail transport code

Chisinau, 29 May /MOLDPRES/- Today Prime Minister Ion Chicu convened a meeting to consider the draft Railway Transport Code. The project was previously approved by the government in 2018 and submitted to parliament, then it was returned for review. The Code is a backlog in the implementation of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement, the government's communication and protocol department has reported.

Chicu said “arrears in the implementation of the Association Agreement are our priorities. The railway sector has reached an unacceptable state and has lost competition with road transport. To have a competitive rail sector integrated in the regional railway network, we need to change the current model of organization and administration ”.

The project aims to implement a number of European directives on the organization and conduct of rail transport.

Following the adoption of the project, the organizational model of Moldova Railway state-owned enterprise will be changed by separating the management of railway infrastructure, traction capacities, passenger and freight transport services. There will be no monopoly in the rail transport.

The railway transport code includes terms such as infrastructure manager, safety authorization, infrastructure capacity, safety certificate, safety objectives, notified bodies and others. The code sees certification mechanisms in the rail transport.

A national infrastructure program approved by the government will be set up, which will comprise activities for maintenance, repair and construction of railway infrastructure.

The draft Railway Transport Code will be included on the government agenda at one of the meetings in June.