CFR Călători unions warn that trains could stop due to the delay in the 2026 budget: “Is it negligence, incompetence, or are there other interests?”

CFR Călători is operating without an approved revenue and expenditure budget for 2026, 257 days after the start of the year, while the National Railway Movement, Commercial and Carriage Federation warns that trains could stop running if funding is not urgently unblocked.

According to the unions, the Ministry of Transport has reportedly completed its procedures, but the document is allegedly blocked at the Ministry of Finance. The federation is calling for the budget to be approved quickly and for public explanations regarding responsibility for the delay.

Employees’ representatives maintain that exceeding the 150-day deadline from the approval of the state budget is affecting the financing of the public railway transport service. They point out that the operator needs funds for electricity, diesel, repairs, materials and salaries—essential expenses for keeping trains in service.

Union representatives say the lack of a budget adds to the railway system’s longstanding problems, such as underfunding and insufficient investment. The federation warns that rail transport cannot be managed permanently “from crisis to crisis,” and that passengers and employees must not bear the consequences of administrative delays.