First Coradia Stream in Romania

The first of the Coradia Stream units ordered by the ARF (Autoritatea pentru Reformă Feroviară, Railway Reform Authority) has arrived in Romania. The latter concluded a contract with Alstom in March 2022 for 20 six-car interregional EMUs of this type, with an option for 20 more, of which 17 units were ordered in September 2022.

Final assembly is underway at the Alstom Chorzów plant near Katowice, from where RE-IR 101 002 was dispatched on 1 December 203. The transport was organised by RailAdventure and the haulage contract was awarded to DB Cargo (in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and LTE (in Hungary and Romania). On 4 December 2023, the unit arrived in Bucharest, after which it should be moved to the Făurei test circuit and to test runs on the București - Constanța and București - Brașov routes, which should also be the first ones, where these units will be operated with passengers.

For the new trains to be purchased (to be followed by units from PESA Bydgoszcz, for which 20 inter-regio trains have been ordered so far), the ARF is gradually tendering for an operator; in the case of the operating set, which will include the first 12 Coradia Stream units, this will be CFR Călători.

This is a significant moment for Romanian railways, as these will be the first newly manufactured EMUs to enter service in the country, after the old prototypes from Electroputere Craiova and the three Hyperion units from the domestic company Softronic.