The project will develop Lot 4 (the Aleşd-Hungarian border section) of the railway line that will connect Cluj-Napoca to Episcopia Bihor in the country's northwest towards the border with Hungary.

Commissioned by CFR, Romania’s national railway company, the project is financed by European Union funds via Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan designed to develop strategic infrastructure. The section belongs to a wider programme to modernise and electrify more than 166 kilometres of the Cluj-Napoca-Oradea-Episcopia Bihor railway. It will also improve the country’s connections with Europe’s railway network. 

The contract comprises the design and execution of the modernisation and electrification of approximately 50 kilometres of an existing railway, including five stations at Tilegad, Osorhei, East Oradea, Oradea, and Episcopia Bihor.

The programmed interventions will guarantee technical conditions for trains to travel at a speed of 160 kilometres per hour(passenger trains) and 120 kilometres per hour (for freight trains). This will increase the comfort and safety of rail traffic, making it more competitive compared to road transport, reducing travel times of people and goods along the section, with lower CO2 emissions as a consequence.

Contractor: Webuild-led consortium