Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on September 2 said the Governments of Romania and China are analyzing the initiative to build a high-speed railway on the Bucharest-Iasi-Chisinau road, which will replace the initiative to implement such a project on the Bucharest – Constanta road, IPN reports, quoting Agerpres.

“The project to build a railway, as it is the railway that allows the trains to travel at high speed, is a project to which the Government of China cares a lot. It was presented by Prime Minister Li Keqiang last year while on a visit to Bucharest. It is designed not only for Romania, but also for the entire Central and Eastern Europe. This pilot-project cannot be implemented on the Bucharest-Constanta line because there is a European corridor and the European Commission opposes a new project,” said the Romanian Premier.

Victor Ponta underlined that the prices are rather high, but, as a pilot-project in Central and Eastern Europe, he wants Romania to be the first country that will have such a railway. The technology developed in China over the last few years turned out to be very up to date and safe. “First of all, the problem is related to financing. If the financing comes from China, it is evident that the project will be integral,” he stated.

As regards the cost of building a high-speed railroad, especially for the speed limit of 350 km/h, Victor Ponta said the average price is US$20 million per kilometer, but Romania needs technology for 200-250 km/h.