Moldova - General Information: Difference between revisions

From EGTRE
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 23: Line 23:
[http://www.railway.md/ro/schedule/index.htm http://www.railway.md/ro/schedule/index.htm] gives arrival and departure details for principal stations.
[http://www.railway.md/ro/schedule/index.htm http://www.railway.md/ro/schedule/index.htm] gives arrival and departure details for principal stations.


A scanned pdf of the 2013-14 timetable (probably an internal staff document) is available on the [http://www.moskvaminsk.com/extras/schedule_moldova_2013.pdf Moskvaminsk website].
A scanned pdf of the 2013-14 timetable (possibly an internal staff document, but entirely in Russian) is available on the [http://www.moskvaminsk.com/extras/schedule_moldova_2013.pdf Moskvaminsk website].


===Printed Timetable===
===Printed Timetable===

Revision as of 09:53, 28 September 2013

Country Name

Moldova (Republica Moldova)

National railway system

CFM - Caile Ferată Moldova.

Official Website

http://www.railway.md/ro/

Language

The Constitution of 1994 states that "the national language of the Republic of Moldova is Moldovan, and its writing is based on the Latin alphabet," while the 1991 Declaration of Independence names the official language Romanian. The 1989 State Language Law speaks of a Moldo-Romanian linguistic identity. Russian is provided with the status of a "language of interethnic communication" (alongside the official language), and in practice remains widely used. Gagauz and Ukrainian have significant regional speaker populations and are granted official status together with Russian in Gagauzia and Transnistria respectively.

Currency

Moldova Leu (MDL; plural Lei), 1 Leu = 100 Bani (singular Ban). In Transnistria, a partially recognized state claimed in whole by Moldova, the Transnistrian rouble is used instead.

UIC code

numeric 23; alpha CFM.

Timetable

Journey Planner

None.

Downloadable Timetable

http://www.railway.md/ro/schedule/index.htm gives arrival and departure details for principal stations.

A scanned pdf of the 2013-14 timetable (possibly an internal staff document, but entirely in Russian) is available on the Moskvaminsk website.

Printed Timetable

Probably no public timetable as such. The scanned pdf of the 2013-14 timetable (see above) is probably an internal staff document.

Engineering Information

None.

Maps

Timetable Maps

None.

Other Maps

An excellent 1:200.000 Moldova map, produced by the Kiev map publishers, can be found in book shops in Chişinău or in larger Ukrainian towns. It is very like the popular Ukraine Oblast maps.

Gauge

"Russian" gauge (1520mm)

Electrification

None.

Rule of the road

All lines are single track.

Other railways

None.

Tourist lines

None.

Metro

None.

Trams

None.

Recent and future changes

Substantial investments have been made in building new railway lines since 2003, with the goal of connecting Chişinău to southern Moldova and the Giurgiuleşti oil terminal. The first such segment was the 40 km (25 mi) Revaca-Căinari line, opened in 2006. Services have restarted operating through Transnistria, the Russian backed breakaway province of Moldova, with a daily Chisinau to Moskva service routed this way.

The 53 km long Cahul - Giurgiuleşti line, opened only in 2008, closed in summer 2012 because 20 km of track near the river Prut need rebuilding owing to poor construction.

Special Notes

Transnistria, also known as Trans-Dniestr or Transdniestria is a breakaway territory located mostly in a strip between the Dniester River and the eastern border with Ukraine. It is generally recognised internationally as being the de jure government of Eastern Moldova as the Stînga Nistrului ("Left Dnestr bank") autonomous region. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, it has been governed de facto by the unrecognized Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublica (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic - PMR, also known as "Pridnestrovie"), which claims the east bank of the river Dniester and the town of Bender and its locality on the right bank of the Dnestr. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize this secession and considers it to be part of Moldova.

Travellers entering Moldova from Transdniestria do not receive an entry stamp because the Republic of Moldova considers Transdniestria to be part of Moldova. Until recently, this caused problems on leaving Moldova as it could be construed as having entered the country illegally. To avoid problems on leaving Moldova, it was recommended to cross Transdniestria only from west to east, or to cross the whole of Moldova in the same train from Kučurhan to Iaşi, using the Saratov – Varna summer-only train. However, Moldovan police now (June 2011) seem to accept a Ukrainian exit stamp at the Kučurhan border crossing as a semi-official entry stamp for Moldova.

Photographers must ask permission from railway staff and police before taking pictures. Often they give permission, but do not attempt to take pictures if they refuse it.

See also