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Railways and economic development in Romania before 1918

David Turnock *

Geography Department, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK

Abstract

Railways are generally credited with a major role in the delayed modernisation of southeastern Europe. In examining their

impact in Romania up to the First World War, it is evident that the railways themselves constituted a major industry and they

stimulated a good deal of business through demands for materials which were met increasingly from the within the national

economy. There was also a major change in mobility and the selective development of towns and rural centres shows a strong

correlation with railway services. Trends in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism also bring out strong correlations with thedeveloping railway network. However, it is stressed that the railways were crucial through satisfying a precondition for economic

growth and a range of other factors must also be recognised as underpinnings of the capitalist system in Romania over the half-

century before the First World War. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Agriculture; Economic development; Industrialisation; Railways; Romania; Tourism; Urbanisation

1. Introduction

The modernisation of Romania, and indeed of the

whole of the Balkan Peninsula, in the late 19th century is

inextricably bound up with the improvement of trans-

port (Lampe and Jackson, 1982, pp. 298303). Trans-

port, especially the development of the railway system,

stands out as one of critical preconditions for the con-

solidation of the independence achieved in 1878

(Berindei, 1988). It was also an essential foundation for

the development of a modern capitalist system which

was introduced into Romanian agriculture and industry

during the late 19th century (Stan, 1991; Zane, 1973).

The overhaul of administration under the Organic

Statutes and the end of the Ottoman trade monopoly

(1828) paved the way for the development of commerce

with Western Europe, thanks to the Danube waterway

which attracted substantial urban developments. Thepopulation of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wal-

lachia, which were united in 1859 prior to gaining in-

dependence (as Romania) in 1878, was increasing

rapidly: from 0.53 mln in 1803 to 1.33 in 1859 in the case

of Moldavia, where the urban component increased

vefold from 48,000 to 288.000: from 9.1% to 21.7%,

reecting the growth of trade and handicrafts (Negruti,

1981). Yet foreign travellers frequently referred to the

dicult transport conditions overland: in the 1830s the

Frenchman Felix Colson referred to a marked lack of

progress apart from the contributions of occupying

forces such as the Austrians in the Olt Valley in the early

18th century and the Russians in Moldavia in the early

19th century (Isbasoiu and Simcelescu, 1986).

The aim of this paper is to outline the growth of the

network in Romania up to the First World War and,

more particularly, to examine the impact on the life of

the nation. However, while it is certainly true that

transport services logically integrate with economic and

social trends, they cannot be held directly responsible

for the developments that follow. A railway system may

facilitate modernisation, but as a necessary rather than a

sucient cause. The evaluation will therefore discrimi-

nate between trends where the railway did have a par-

ticularly powerful inuence, through the demand forcoal, and other ways in which the selective spatial de-

velopment of the economy emphasised the railway

alignment. In addition to concise modern studies by

Botez et al. (1977) and Popescu (1987), there is a major

secondary source provided by Iordanescu and George-

scu (1986) who examine the railway building company

of the communist era (`Centrala de Constructii Cai

Ferate') and its predecessors in commemoration of a

century of construction by Romanian engineers fol-

lowing the Buzau-Marasesti line of 1881. Jordan (1986)

is also a useful reference, but most use has been made of

Journal of Transport Geography 9 (2001) 137150

www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo

* Fax: +44-116-252-3854.

E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Turnock).

0966-6923/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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the railway archives and issues of the ocial railway

journal `Revista Cailor Ferate Romane' or simply `Re-

vista CFR'; launched in 1910 and published in the early

years through the company's own `Filaret' printing shop

rst opened at the Gara de Nord in 1893. The contem-

porary economic press provides useful material on in-

dustrial location while census les have been consulted

to clarify population trends. Finally it should be pointed

out that while Romania played a part in the interna-

tional sphere with a signicant input for the Danube-

Adriatic concept, the emphasis here is mainly on the

domestic front with little reference to provinces outside

the Kingdom (`Regat') of 1878 which did not pass to

Romania until after the First World War.

2. Developing the network

The administrations in Moldavia and Wallachia be-

gan to give transport a higher priority in the 1840s,along with measures to improve the cities with paved

streets, piped water and hospitals. This was a time of

appreciable change in the development of civil society

(Tafta, 1992). By the time the union of the Principalities

was achieved, Wallachia had a network of coach and

mail services linking Bucharest with the Danube ports of

Calarasi, Oltenita, Giurgiu and Turnu Magurele; also

with Craiova and the Transylvanian frontier in the Olt

Valley at Raul Vadului. Meanwhile in Moldavia the

main road (`drumul mare') ran from the Austrian

frontier at Mihaileni through the towns of Dorohoi,

Botos

ani, Ias

i, Vaslui and B^

arlad to the Danube atGalati. But while railway concessions were rst dis-

cussed in the early 1840s, (Boicu, 1963) in a study of the

Moldavian economy, concludes that nothing was

achieved because railways were not considered prot-

able in the context of a low level of industrial develop-

ment; with no indigenous capital or engineering skill.

However, the Austrian occupation at the time of the

Crimean War highlighted the strategic value of rail

connections through Lemberg (now Lviv) to the Dan-

ube at Galati, while the British interest in Wallachia saw

merit in a possible connection with the Cernavoda-

Constanta (Baghas Keni-Kustenjie) railway which

might thereby extend westwards to Bucharest andthence to the Austrian border at Varciorova near

Orsova. The Constanta line was being built by British

engineers through what was then the Turkish territory

of Dobrogea: it was eventually opened in 1860 and

worked by the Danube & Black Sea Railway Company

(Jensen and Rosegger, 1968). Turkey, meanwhile, had a

major interest in the Principalities as the suzerain power,

needing to provide joint guarantees for concessions. But

there was also a specic Turkish desire to link Istanbul

with Bucharest and develop the rural regions along the

route; for improved transport was seen as a stimulus to

agriculture. There was little support from Hungarians

who wanted only links between resource areas in

Transylvania and the Hungarian Plain. Indeed, ``the last

thing Magyar agricultural interests wanted was a trunk

line making bulk commodity imports from Moldavia

and Wallachia more competitive'' (Rosegger and Jen-

sen, 1996, p. 434). Commercial interests in Brasov and

Sibiu wanted rail connections with the Danube ports

through the Buzau or Prahova valley, but railways from

Hungary (via Arad and Sibiu or by way of Oradea and

Cluj) were a precondition for further expansion towards

the Black Sea.

Discussions took place in earnest in 1864. The Brit-

ons T. Bartlett and W.H. Ward emerged as prospective

concessionaires for the Wallachian lines which would

connect Bucharest with the frontier at Braila, Giurgiu

and Varciorova. For Moldavia there were discussions

with D.J. de Salamanca and G. Delahante with respect

to the Siret valley, leading to the Lower Danube.

However a route from Habsburg territory throughSuceava was preferred to Mihaileni in order to keep well

clear of the Russian frontier, though it isolated Botosani

and Dorohoi in the process. However, little could be

done until the railway builders in the Habsburg Empire

showed a determination to reach the Romanian frontier

(for the `Lemberg-Czernowitzer Eisenbahn' was not

completed until 1866 and it was another ten years before

a line set out from Timisoara in the direction of

Varciorova). Thus initially the only viable projects were

isolated lines tied to the Danube ports and the rst

railway achieved on Romanian territory at the time was

from Bucharest to Giurgiu in 1869; realised under the

concession awarded to J.T. Barkley and J. Staniforth in

1865 (Urma, 1969). Long distance lines followed shortly

after. The Ofenheim concession in respect of an exten-

sion across the frontier at Suceava-Burdujeni reached

Iasi in 1870 (with a short addition to the Russian

frontier at Ungheni four years later). The Strussberg

concession provided for further construction to Galati

in 1872 and also for an eastwest line through Wallachia

from Galati to Bucharest and Pitesti (1872), extended to

the AustroHungarian frontier at Varciorova in 1875

(Fig. 1). In Transylvania the railway arrived at Brasov

from the west in 1873 and the connection with Bucharest

through the Predeal pass and Prahova valley was com-pleted in 1879 by a further concessionaire, Crawley.

The foundations of the Romanian railway system had

been laid, but at very high average cost of 320,000 lei/km

for the 1377 km built by concessionaires (varying be-

tween 438,700 lei/km for the Prahova line and 205,000

for Giurgiu), while the 2096 km built by the Romanian

engineers between 1879 and 1911 cost an average of only

149,300 lei/km (Iordanescu and Georgescu, 1986, pp.

6263). However, all this activity helped to lay the

foundations for independence, as contemporary econo-

mists like P.S. Aurelian had recognised: ``beyond any

138 D. Turnock / Journal of Transport Geography 9 (2001) 137150

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doubt railway building was of the utmost importance as

far as public works were concerned [despite] burden-

some abuses and obligations'' until the concessions were

redeemed (Berindei, 1988, p. 30). Some of the later ex-

tensions to the network were of major signicance, like

the more direct access from Bucharest to Moldavia via

Buzau and Focsani (1881), the line to Constanta which

included the bridge over the Danube between Fetesti

and Cernavoda (1895), the series of lines close to the

Prut frontier completed in stages between 1888 and 1913

(using dicult routes in order to keep outside artillery

range from Russian territory), and additional frontiercrossings at Reni (1877), Ghimes-Palanca (1899) and

Raul Vadului (1901). There was also a sustained branch

line programme, beginning immediately after indepen-

dence, with links provided with Slanic and Telega in

1883, Targu Ocna in 1884, Piatra Neamt 1885, Calarasi

1886, Campulung, Corabia, Falticeni, Slobozia and

Turnu Magurele in 1887, Targu Jiu in 1888 and Husi in

1890. Expansion of the state railways continued for the

next decade and was complemented by a number of

private schemes, notably the branches to Nehoiu, Pan-

ciu and Valenii de Munte (Tighiliu, 1990). The two latter

places were established markets, while Nehoiu was a

newly established logging centre in the Buzau valley.

The network was by no means complete by the First

World War because a major expansion programme,

launched in 1913 to provide alternative routes from

Bucharest to Brasov, Craiova and Iasi, had hardly been

started by the time hostilies broke out. The issue of new

construction was taken up in 1918 in the context of a

greatly enlarged territory and was much debated

through the 1920s and 1930s (Turnock, 1979).

3. The impact of railways: direct eects

The railways employed a growing number of work-

ers, predominantly in the towns: 6900 in 1889 rising to

13,870 in 1890, 17,720 in 1900 and 27,700 in 1910. The

network was expanding at the same time: 1380 km in

1880 to 2469 in 1890, 3100 in 1900 and 3468 in 1910

(Table 1). But the employment per kilometer of route-

length increased slowly from 5.0 in 1880 to 5.6 in 1890

and 5.7 in 1900 before increasing sharply to 8.0 in 1910.

The CFR attached importance to education and train-

Fig. 1. Phases of railway construction to 1918. (Source: Jordan, 1986.) Please note that this map and the others predates the Romanian spelling

and results in some slight dierences compared with the text.

D. Turnock / Journal of Transport Geography 9 (2001) 137150 139

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ing, thereby contributing to changes in the quality of

labour as well as the urbanrural balance. In this con-

text, the opening of the Societatea Politechnice was an

important achievement and one in which the famous

Romanian engineer A. Saligny had a signicant role.

The railways contributed to welfare through the provi-

sion of housing in distinct railway neighbourhoods, like

Grant in Bucharest and Nicolina in Iasi; and there were

special educational facilities for the children of railway

workers based at remote points on the network.

The scale of the railway business was enormous in

comparison with the rest of the economy: the total lo-

comotive power (rising from 80,000 hp in 1880 to

350,000 in 1906) was seven times the gure for the total

amount of installed power in the industry of the Regat

(Botez et al., 1977, p. 187). Thus railways contributed to

industrialisation through their own factories, although

in the early days much of the equipment was imported.

Some of the coaches for the BucharestGiurgiu line weresupplied by a rm in Ashburys, Manchester (England).

But the engineering profession certainly constituted a

powerful lobby discouraging the use of foreign workers

and material, and their growing expertise contributed

greatly to the country's industrial establishment (Jensen

and Rosegger, 1985). Experience with bridge building on

the lines to Predeal and Varciorova gave rise to a growth

in engineering skills, culminating in the establishment of

the bridge-building workshop in Pitesti in 1915 (still

operating today as the IPMPB enterprise, dealing with

both metal and concrete construction). Locomotive re-

pairs were carried out in Galati and Ploiesti before the

CFR central workshops were completed at Grivita

(Bucharest) in 1906: an extension of the wagon repair

facility which opened in 1897. The repair of steam lo-

comotives began in 1917 and the original `Gara

Targovistei' workshops in Bucharest were eventually

transferred to Grivita in 1931 to make way for the

CFR's new administrative building. There were also

units to produce gas and electricity in Bucharest (from

1882) and Ploiesti (1898) respectively; also for laundry

work (1895) and the creosoting of sleepers (1904). The

importance of telegraph and telephone communications

(the former dating back to the Strussberg and Von

Ofenheim concessions; and the latter to the Gara de

Nord exchange of 1890) also had a wider economic

signicance (Boicu, 1955). A. Cottescu and M.H.

Romniceanu installed the rst `aparat de telecomanda

centralizata' at Buftea between Bucharest and Ploiesti.

The role of the railways can also be seen through theirdemands for substantial quantities of various com-

modities which could be produced to an increasing ex-

tent within the country. In the Regat all metal had to be

imported and until engineering capacities built up, most

metal manufactures, including locomotives and rolling

stock, had to be purchased abroad. The manufacturing

capacities of the workshops in Bucharest, Iasi and

Turnu Severin (the latter closely connected with the

shipyard) were important national assets. Building ma-

terials and fuel were much in demand. The production

of cement began at Braila in 1891 and the CFR opened

Table 1

Development of the railway system in the regat 18701915a

Year Criteria

Ab Bc Cd De Ef Fg Gh Hi Ij Jk Kl

1870 248 1468 75 326 1151 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

1875 916 n.a. 114 422 1842 n.a. n.a. 133 0.78 0.55 4.401880 916 6900 141 302 3350 n.a. n.a. 144 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1885 1354 n.a. 197 432 4368 n.a. n.a. 174 1.42 1.55 4.96

1890 2416 13870 302 893 6396 80.1 12.8 249 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1895 2526 n.a. 433 964 8673 103.9 29.5 288 5.85 3.52 5.64

1900 3070 17724 464 1130 10918 107.6 34.6 326 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1905 3180 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 111.6 33.7 n.a. 6.60 5.76 6.48

1910 3468 27700 762 1752 17778 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

1915 3702 35000 932 1790 23578 n.a. n.a. n.a. 11.57 9.90 7.90

a Source: Anuaral Statistic (1905), Botez et al. (1977, pp. 145, 156, 175).b Length of system (kms).c Number of sta.d Number of Locomotives (1872, 1882, 1892, 19021903, 19121913, 19141915).e Number of coaches (1872, 1882, 1892, 19021903, 19121913, 19141915).f

Number of wagons (1872, 1882, 1892, 19021903, 19121913, 19141915).g Number of trains (1903 gure shown under 1905).h Number of passenger trains (1903 gure shown under 1905).i Number of stations and halts.j Passengers (mln).k Freight (mln t).l Population (mln).


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it own brickworks at Ciurea near Iasi in the same year.

The Vaslui-Iasi railway was under construction at the

time, but the factory subsequently provided materials

for the lining of Movileni Tunnel on the Iasi-Dorohoi

line (18931896) and the refurbishing of stations. The

factory remains in operation today as a signicant local

industry. Various low-grade coal deposits were used for

locomotive fuel. In 1852, B.D. Stirbei drew attention to

the coal of Bahna since it lay close to a projected main

line to the AustroHungarian frontier at Varciorova.

Indeed the Bahna coal was eventually exploited in 1880

and a narrow gauge railway line was laid. At the same

time, experimental use was made of Plostina lignite from

the Motru valley (20 km from the railhead of Strehaia)

but it was found to be too inferior a fuel. Filipestii de

Padure near Baicoi was another source which attracted

attention after the Prahova valley line opened in 1879; as

was Ceptura, lying close to the main line between

Ploiesti and Buzau.

More substantial sources were found in theDambovita valley at Doicesti (north of Targoviste)

where the Sotinga and Margineanca mines opened in

1884 and 1886 respectively; accessed by a narrow gauge

line constructed with the benet of equipment removed

from Bahna. The CFR established its own mining ser-

vice (`Serviciul Minelor') which included responsibility

for Margineanca, producing 55,000 t in 1889. However,

the organisation was transferred to Ministerul Agricul-

turii Domeniilor Industrie si Comertului in 1891. Schitu

Golesti near Campulung opened in 1902 (with its rail-

way from Jidava in 1906). The `Lignit' company was

created in 1909 and expanded operations in the hills

around Schitu Golesti using a four kilometer funicular

built in 1910 and capable of transporting up to 150 t

daily. Meanwhile, mining began in Moldavia at Asau in

the Trotus Valley in 1903 and served the railways of the

province (Ganitchi, 1932): there were two separate

companies operating at Asau-Comanesti and

Darmanesti (Iosa, 1963). In 19111912, total coal out-

put in the Regat amounted to 242,000 t: 78,000 from

Schitu Golesti; 128,000 from the Doicesti, Filipestii de

Padure and Ceptura areas; and the rest from Moldavia.

There was a heavy consumption of wood, for sleepers

and telegraph poles as well as fuel, much of it delivered

by rafts using the Bistrita and Siret rivers. Increasing use

was made of oil, following the development of

oil-burning equipment by T. Dragu in 1887 and the

perfecting of the system over the following six years.

Subsequent work was done to develop the injector

through new designs by Dragu and Cosmovici in 1902

and 1905, respectively. In 1906, 80 out of a total of 537

locomotives were equipped for oil burning (and a fur-

ther 370 could burn a mixture of oil and lignite)

(Popescu, 1987, p. 157). In this way the low grade coalbecame a useful source of locomotive fuel. Average

annual consumption of oil rose from 0.76 th.t in 1881

1991 (1.01 `Cardi equivalent') to 9.47 in 18921902

(12.60) and 114.37 in 19031913 (152.11), respectively,

1.6%, 9.1% and 58.8% of all locomotive fuel consumed

(Table 2). Meanwhile, wood consumption rose only

slowly from 121.55 th.cu.m (25.53 th.t `Cardi equiva-

lent') in 18811991 to 174.00 (35.91) in 18821992 and

181.52 (38.12) in 19031913; with percentage shares

falling from 41.2 to 26.0 and 14.7. There was some de-

pendence on imported coal, needed by the more pow-

erful locomotives. Welsh steam coal (`Cardi Coal') was

preferred and other fuels were rated against the Cardi

standard; but Silesian and Westphalian supplies were

Table 2

CFR fuel consumption 18811913a

Fuel 18811891 18921902 19031913

Ab Bc Ab Bc Ab Bc

Domestic fuel 31.88 64.85 236.07

Lignite 15.25 5.34 46.70 16.34 130.99 45.85

Oil 0.76 1.01 9.47 12.60 114.37 152.11

Wood 121.55 25.53 174.00 35.91 181.52 38.12Imported fuel 29.98 73.33 22.73

Cardi coal 25.45 25.45 48.79 48.79 9.06 9.06

Westphalian coal 11.72 11.72 11.63 11.63

Silesian coal 2.35 2.17 7.93 7.24 1.34 1.24

Petrosani coal 1.76 1.36 2.31 1.78 1.04 0.80

Serbian coal 1.30 1.00 4.93 3.80

Total 61.86 138.18 258.80

a Note: Ganitchi's gures for total consumption (Cardi equivalent ) are 67.39; 138.00; and 270.40. Discrepancies arise when the published con-

version rates are applied to individuals fuels.b Actual comsumption in th.t/annum (th.cu.m for timber).c Cardi coal equivalent using the following conversion factors: Lignite 0.35 (0.58 for Comanesti) ; Oil 1.33; Wood 0.21; Westphalian coal 1.0;

Silesian coal 0.925; Petrosani/Serbian coal 0.77. Source: Ganitchi (1932).


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also used; along with coal from Petrosani in Transyl-

vania which also supplied the Hungarian railways and

became the main source of fuel for the railways of

Greater Romania after the First World War. Depen-

dence on imported fuel increased from 48.5% in 1881

1991 to 53.1 in 18921902 but fell to only 8.8 in 1903

1913 through the growth of lignite and oil consumption.

4. The impact of railways: mobility and urban expansion

Passenger journeys were greatly accelerated and ser-

vices were relatively frequent. The usual practice was for

two to four trains to run over each link in the network

daily. This gure was exceeded on a number of main

lines with the largest number of trains (15) running each

way between Bucharest and Ploiesti. Railway fares

benetted from a taper structure which gave consider-

able advantages to people travelling from Bucharest to

the northern and western frontiers (Fig. 2). Distances ofup to around 100 km from Bucharest were charged at a

rate of 12.012.9 km per lei whereas a passenger trav-

elling to Botosani or Dorohoi travelled almost 20 km

for every leu spent on the ticket. There were major im-

provements in international travel following the rst

service from Bucharest to Vienna in 1873, using a

roundabout route through Gala ti, Suceava and Lem-

berg (with a sleeping car available in 1875). The direct

route through Varciorova, Timisoara and Budapest was

available by the end of the decade when the journey time

was reduced to 29 h. This route was used by both the

`Fulger' and `Orient' expresses: the latter originated in

London and Paris, reached Vienna via Strasbourg and

Munich, and continued beyond Bucharest to Giurgiu

(where there was a river crossing to Ruse and a further

train journey thence to Varna for the ship to Instanbul

(Popescu, 1983). The direct route through Belgrade and

Soa was available in 1888, but the original service was

retained and switched to Constanta in 1895, oering a

journey time of 53 h to Istanbul from Paris. This rep-

resented a substantial saving over the 84 h required for

the older route from Bucharest to Giurgiu, Ruse and

Varna. The new service was able to use the Constanta

Port branch and take passengers directly to the steamer`Meteor', acquired specially for the nal leg of the

journey. The same route was also available to travellers

from Berlin, Breslau and Lemberg travelling by the

`Fulger' express to Bucharest entering Romania at

Fig. 2. Railway fares in the Regat 1916. (Source: Revista CFR.)


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Burdujeni. This train service was introduced in 1886 but

from 1895 a through coach was detached at Buzau and

taken to join the Orient Express at Fetesti. There was a

close liaison with the national shipping company `Ser-

viciul Maritim Roman' which was administered by the

CFR in its early years. By 1906 there were ve passenger

and six cargo boats operating as far aeld as North

Africa and Western Europe, with through booking

possible from principal railway stations. One important

eect of the improved mobility was to place the land-

locked areas of Eastern Europe is close touch with the

ports; thereby contributing to the surge of emigration at

the turn of the century (Turnock, 1996).

Meanwhile travel was much slower on the road feeder

routes and disparities in the quality of public transport

led to strong objections from areas not benetting di-

rectly from a railway service. The result was a higher

priority to road building. The length of `good roads'

(`drumurilor sistematice') increased from 1095 km in

1867 to 41,276 in 1901 (Botez et al., 1977, p. 180).Transport costs for the remotest areas were reduced

further by the concessions for villagers travelling to

towns more than 40 km away and for parties of tourists

(members of the `Societatea Turistilor Romani') travel-

ling to the watering places. Meanwhile, the transport of

mail was being switched to the railways. Legislation in

1872 reorganised postal services and established oces

in all district administrative centres i.e. in each `plasa'

where a sub-prefect was in residence and where such an

oce was not already in existence in connection with the

existing mail service by `diligence' (requiring a network

of relay stations, known as `menziluri'). The require-

ments of the postal service were now a factor in railway

route selection, particularly with regard to such circu-

itous routes as Bucharest to Craiova via Pitesti. And

implementation of the 1872 programme saw post oces

at all 68 railway stations open by the end of the year: 44

as a result of a transfer from the sub-prefect's residence

and the rest through the provision of additional rural

oces (Passalega, 1985).

De Martonne (1904, pp. 31938) saw the railways

and the ports as being crucial for urban developments.

The county centres grew particularly rapidly after the

arrival of the railway boosted their central place func-

tions, as at Ramnicu Valcea. Urban studies frequentlymention the surge in building which took place after the

arrival of the railway, for example at Panciu after the

completion of the branch line from Marasesti in 1902

(Cioaca and Stefanescu, 1992, p. 326); though little re-

mains from this period in the present townscape because

of the severe earthquake damage which occurred in

1940. Urban expansion was often apparent through the

development of new railway quarters. In Iasi, when the

railway arrived on the edge of the historic centre, it at-

tracted a `vad comercial' in the southwest of the town on

the Bahlui oodplain, with industrial enterprises: elec-

tricity station, cigarette factory and mill (Ungureanu,

1987, p. 149). In Buzau, the station was built in 1872,

one kilometer east of the centre between the main roads

to Braila (Calea Dobrogei) and Ploiesti (Calea Unirii).

A new street (Strada Banului) was driven from the

centre directly the station, intersecting in the station

forecourt with B-dul. Viitorului which provided a link

between the Braila and Ploiesti roads, bypassing the

town centre. Renamed rst B-dul Garii and later B-dul

Nicolae Balcescu, Strada Banului attracted a number of

major buildings including a church (Biserica Banului), a

senior school and the prefecture. It became a fashion-

able thoroughfare, where the townspeople would take

their Sunday strolls at the turn of the century. Of course

the railways made a direct contribution to architecture

with many buildings of quality such as the frontier sta-

tion of Suceava-Burdujeni, nished in 1898, and other

notable creations in the same decade: Calafat (1895) and

Curtea de Arges (1898).

Central places became closely linked with the rail-ways. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

local centres in Wallachia, as indicated by the holding of

periodic fairs, were distributed extensively throughout

the Subcarpathians and the lowland zone except for the

Danube valley itself and the Baragan (Penelea, 1973).

But in the late 19th century while the sub-prefectures

generally lacked a direct rail service the vast majority of

the towns were so connected with only three exceptions.

In the early 19th century the six additional small towns

which had emerged by this time were again rail con-

nected, with only one exception. And while most district

centres were some distance from the railway it is clear

that in districts that did have a railway within their

limits the administration was based in a village with a

railway station. Thus the railway network exerted a

powerful inuence on the selection of administrative

centres. The railway was also a strong inuence on

commercial development and all four the towns that

lacked a railway either disappeared from the rankings or

were temporarily demoted during the early communist

years when the industrial functions constituted a pre-

condition for urban status.

The same points emerge at the national level. The

railway was certainly a factor supporting the growth of

large towns by contributing to a more ecient infra-structure and it is evident that Bucharest's dominance

over the second city, Iasi, increased progressively. There

was also increasing dierentiation between provincial

towns as the railways reinforced the nodality of the best-

placed urban centres. It is interesting to see that Bo-

tosani fell in the rankings from third in 1859 to seventh

in 1915, reecting its branch line status; while the towns

of Buzau, Craiova and Turnu Severin, along with ports

of Braila, Galati and especially Constanta rose up

the `league table (Fig. 3). Finally, reference should be

made to the changes in the boundaries of the adminis-


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trative counties (`judete') during the 19th century. In the

interest of more ecient local government, the railway

seems to have stimulated more rounded hinterlands for

each of the county towns.

In Moldavia the dierentiation is underlined by the

failure of many local markets. There was an expansion

in local marketing in the decades after the Organic

Statutes opened the way for a more vigorous commer-

cial life. Small, local markets (`targusoarele') appeared

in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s at focal points (often

administrative centres for each district or òcol') where

weekly markets were held. These places were generally

regarded as towns in 18591860, but many were by-

passed completely by the railways: like Stefanesti on thePrut River and others failed to consolidate their urban

functions (Tufescu, 1941). When the census conducted

by I.Ionescu de al Brad, D.P. Martian and others for

Principalities in 18591860 (Chirita, 1989) is compared

with estimates for 1914 it is evident that the number of

ocial urban centres was greatly reduced. But the sur-

vivors correlate closely with the railway routes, while the

centres that lost their urban status show up as clusters in

the relatively inaccessible hill and plateau country (Fig.

4). In the Tutova Hills, there were eight places with

weekly markets and four of them (Colonesti, Gaiceana,

Podu Turcului and Stanisesti) were listed as towns in the

census of 18591860. There were also many other places

where annual fairs were held. However in the railway

age their importance was reduced in comparison with

the settlements along the main railway routers especially

Barlad, but Adjud, Marasesti and Vaslui to a lesser

extent (Poghirc, 1972, pp. 183186).

The phenomenon of the development axis was most

noticeable in the case of the PloiestiBrasov line along

the Prahova valley which attracted urban and industrial

growth on an unprecedented scale. The section from

Floresti to Predeal had a population of 31,522 in 1899,

rising to 43,162 in 1912 (Popp, 1929). Oil was found

around Câmpina and the `Steaua Romana' companybuilt a renery there in 1897 and a sulphuric acid factory

was opened in 1908 (based on petroleum residues).

Reference should also be made to the cement industry at

Comarnic where the rst rotary furnace was installed in

1908. Ploiesti became the main centre of the oil industry

by the First World War with both oil rening and oil-

eld engineering; for `Concordia', operating in the

Bustenari and Telega areas, opened their engineering

works in 1908 and this was to become the famous Ì

Mai' plant of the socialist period. In addition, there was

wood processing in the higher sections of the valley

Fig. 3. The largest towns of the Regat 1859 and 1915. ( Source: Chirita, 1989.)


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around Busteni. The scenic charms of the Bucegi

Mountains became accessible to the Bucharest people

and the royal family, with its palace in the new town of

Sinaia, patronised local industry in the Azuga-Sinaia

area where a complex of activities including engineering,

food processing and textiles developed (Caloianu, 1984).

Electricity was generated at small hydro stations built at

Campina and Sinaia in 1898; with some transfer of

power from Sinaia to Campina by means of a 25 Kv

transmission line built in 1900.

With the benet of rail communications the functions

of the capital could in some respects be decentralised.

The teacher training college (`scoala normala') atCampulung is a case in point. The decision to provide

for the training of teachers for country schools in Wal-

lachia was taken in 1863 but it was found in 1886 that

the local authorities in Bucharest were not meeting their

obligations. The possibility of relocation arose and the

decision to transfer the school to Campulung was taken

in 1887 in the light of King Carol's interest in the lo-

cality, the provision of land by Dimitrie Sturdza and the

administrative work of successive education ministers

including Spiru C. Haret. But it cannot be without sig-

nicance that 1887 was the year when the railway

opened from Golesti near Pitesti to Campulung; one of

the branch line projects included in the programme of

1882. Building went ahead slowly and the school opened

in 1896; it continues to function today.

5. Rural areas

The rural areas benetted from modern services as

one western traveller noticed: ``railways and village

schools have carried with them a certain measure of

civilisation into the vast majority of country districts''

(Beatty-Kingston, 1932, p. 193). But there was a loss of

population through net out-migration. Moreover, the

towns diverted away from the countryside some of the

business previously transacted at periodic fairs, al-

though the transformation was by no means complete.

Villages in areas comprising rugged hill country,

standing aloof from the rail network, experienced a

sharp change in fortune with the breakdown of subsis-tence farming. The withdrawal of arable farming from

the higher surfaces of the Mehedinti Plateau and

Vrancea Depression was aggravated by declining fertil-

ity over the decades following deforestation, but with

livestock as virtually the sole export commodity there

has been persistent depopulation. On the other hand,

the railways oered the possibility of wider distribution

of industrial and agricultural production where the po-

tential was available. In the Baragan the construction of

the Constanta railway in a straight line across the steppe

greatly increased the accessibility of potential cereal

lands which had previously been remote from the rivervalley settlements along the Danube and the Ialomita.

Large villages developed around the railway stations

(such as Lehliu Gara which is now a town) and these

villages assumed a relatively modern appearance with

the rail delivery of sheet metal, concrete, bricks and tiles

(oering contrasts with the traditional houses built of

mud brick and papyrus thatch).

In the hill country, the railway encouraged a move-

ment to the lower ground with better access to the main

lines of communication and agricultural lands where

activity was intensied. This can be seen in the Meh-

edinti Plateau where population pressure was relieved;

also in the Tutova Hills where people moved furtherdown the valleys towards Adjud, Barlad and Tecuci

(Poghirc, 1972, pp. 183186). Meanwhile, villages that

had railway facilities tended to emerge as strong district

centres, as can be seen in some areas when census in-

formation for 1912 (dealing with population and ame-

nities) is organised on the basis of the present commune

system (Fig. 5). The post was most conveniently handled

by the railway, as already noted, but a wide range of

services tended to gravitate towards places with railway

access. A distinction is made between `local services'

which were normally found in every commune and

Fig. 4. The urban network of Moldavia 1859 and 1914. (Source:

Chirita, 1989.)


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`district services' which were only present in the com-

munes which acted as centres for a wider area. In the

upper part of the Buzau valley, comprising a total of 14

communes, only four had stations on the Buzau-Neh-

oiasu railway: Cislau, Nehoiasu, Paltineni and

Patarlagele, which was the centre for Colti, Maruntisu,

Mlajetu, Panatau, Sibiciu and Valea Muscelului com-

munes. The four communes with railways accounted for

34.2% of inhabited buildings, 35.4% of the households

and 35.1% of the population; but 40.9% of the local

services, 66.6% of the district services and 83.3% in the

case of those district services concerned with sanitaryand medical facilities. Patarlagele's role was particularly

important, being a `comuna mare' and administrative

centre for the district (`resedinta plaiului') with district

court, hospital and trade school (later secondary

school). After the construction of a bridge across the

Buzau river in giving access to communes on the eastern

side, including Colti, Mlajet, Panatau and Sibiciu,

Patarlagele was in a good position to develop a small

tourist industry based on the mineral water at Sibiciu

and the amber found at Colti. Meanwhile Cislau be-

came a nodal point on a somewhat smaller scale and

Nehoiasu served the logging centre of Nehoiu where a

range of factories developed.

6. The impact of railways: industry, agriculture and

tourism

The railways were very much a precondition for rapid

economic growth and successful exploitation of com-

parative advantage in the global capitalist system (Zane,

1973, p. 166). The country's resources could be more

eectively mobilised and a rapid development of exportbusiness was sustained through the transport of cereals,

oil and timber to the ports. This was especially true in

the case of Constanta which became Romania's leading

port by the beginning of the 20th century, enjoying di-

rect railway connections with Bucharest, Ploiesti and

Buzau (Ciorbea, 1990). There was scope for specialisa-

tion and the creation of complementary industrial re-

gions, supported by the government programme of

incentives for large scale industry (`industria mare')

(Turnock, 1977) (Fig. 6). Concentrations are evident in

Bucharest and the oilelds, but the distribution is also

Fig. 5. Commune functions in eastern Wallachia, southern Moldavia and Dobrogea in relation to the railway network 1912. (Source: Ministerul

Agriculturii, 1914.)


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dispersed throughout the system. There were factories

dependent on imported raw materials that were situated

in inland areas, like the fertiliser factory at Marasesti,

based on imported phosphate, and the sulphuric acid

factory at Valea Calugareasca, using Spanish pyrites.

Sugar beet factories were scattered throughout Mold-

avia: at Marasesti, Rapiceni (near Botosani) and Ro-

man, situated conveniently for the supply of raw

material and the distribution of sugar. But the railway

had a downside which was the threat of imported

manufactures from Central Europe. The 1876 trade

agreement with AustriaHungary resulted in a ood of

manufacturers from Transylvania when the Predeal

railway route opened. Since domestic industry was un-dermined, the agreement was cancelled and a tari war

broke out as Romania protected her industries while

AustriaHungary stopped the export of Romanian

livestock and placed duties on other goods. A new

agreement came into force only in 1893 when trade

started to pick up again, with increased prominence for

oil and timber to complement agricultural commodities.

By this time various support arrangements were in force

to encourage Romanian industries.

The cost of freight transport for agricultural com-

modities and other primary goods was greatly reduced.

In 1882 it cost 12 lei to transport grain 100 kms (salt

only 4.0 lei). Trac increased rapidly, with cereals, oil

and timber as the principal commodities (60% of the

total in 19131914) followed by building materials and

coal. The railway's boost to cereal production meant an

increase in the amount of land cultivated (1.47 mln.ha in

1840 but 5.52 in 1905) and land values went up as much

as three times (Botez et al., 1977, pp. 186187). Land in

northern Moldavia (Botosani and Dorohoi), previously

used for rearing livestock exported on the hoof, could

now enter the grain trade and Botosani became a major

our-milling centre (Vasiliu, 1940). But the cereal trac

uctuated year by year, with the harvest much aected

by drought, while the lack of storage facilities meantthat much of the crop had to be moved to the ports (and

to the land frontiers) in a short period immediately after

the harvest. Some stations dispatched more than 2000

wagons of cereals. In 1883 the greatest shipments were

from Cilibia (4340 wagons), an intermediate station

between Buzau and Faurei which themselves despatched

3770 and 3630 wagons, respectively (Fig. 7). To handle

the growing trac two new freight locomotive classes

were introduced in 18901893 with three coupled axles

and wheels of 1330 mm, achieving enhanced adhesion

and a maximum speed 55 kph. There was a special lo-

Fig. 6. Railways and the development of large scale industry in the Regat. (Source: Pianu, 1906; Zane, 1973.)


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comotive introduced in 1890 for mountain routes like

Ploiesti-Predeal, with four coupled axles of 1195 mm

wheels capable of a maximum speed of 41 kph.

People became much more mobile and this helped to

create a tourist industry. The years 18791883 saw

passenger trac increase by 80% and freight by 30%.

There were special regimes for ``trenurilor de placere'';

tickets for spas (`bilete de bai'); single and return tickets;

concessions for villagers (`bilete pentru sateni') and for

tourist parties. All these tickets oered reductions of

3050%. The railways had particular signicance for

tourism. Constanta became an important resort for

Bucharest people after the railway link was completed in

1890. A sea-bathing station (`baile de mare') was openedsouth of the town and a three-kilometer railway was

built to `Baile de la Vii' (situated between Constanta

and Agigea), with a programme of leisure trains (`tre-

nuri de agrement') operating from Ovidiu and Con-

stanta. The line was closed in 1905 and subsequently

reconstructed as the Techirghiol branch opened in 1924.

At this stage, a light railway was built to Mamaia on the

northern side of Constanta where another bathing sta-

tion began to develop. Some of the original rolling stock

provided for the Cernavoda-Constanta railway was still

being used on this branch at the onset of the First World

War. The inland watering places also depended on

railway services, as has been noted in the case of the

Prahova valley where the railway was followed by royal

patronage at Sinaia. The provision of modern tourist

facilities at the spa of Calimanesti in 1910 followed the

arrival of the railway on the opposite bank of the Olt at

Jiblea in 1898.

7. Conclusion

The railway played a key role in the modernisation of

Romania. This new transport technology was comple-

mented by crucial political developments, includingunication of the Principalities (1859) and independence

(1878), and the stimulation of a capitalist economy

through an integrated national market (internal trade

barriers were removed in 1848), agrarian reforms and a

scal regime to encourage domestic competition against

foreign imports. This is not to suggest that the results of

capitalism in Romania were entirely benecial. Inter-

national specialisation underlined the state of relative

backwardness in Romania and other Balkan countries;

while within Romania the higher rewards for capital

over labour saw mounting pressures on the peasantry,

Fig. 7. Railway freight trac in the Regat 19141915. (Source: Revista CFR.)


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exacerbated by stagnating cereal prices and subdivision

of holdings; all of which eventually triggered the revolt

of 1907. The political debate was much preoccupied

with the easement of rural poverty through faster in-

dustrialisation under state protection and a consequent

restructuring of peasant farms.

Yet there was undoubtedly a great improvement in

absolute terms and one that would hardly have been

possible without the railway system. The greatest

transformation occurred in the Bucharest area. The

beginning of the 19th century saw Wallachia as the

most backward part of the Romanian Principalities,

with the Ottoman trade monopoly linking the area

closely with the overland routes to Istanbul. By con-

trast Moldavia and Oltenia were developing links with

adjacent areas of the Habsburg Empire. But with the

creation of the railway network, on top of the political

changes and economic reforms, it was possible for De

Martonne (1904, p. 340) to balance the loss of political

individuality with such a strong ``situation economiquematerielle et morale'' that Romania ``est devenue pre-

sque un pays nouveau''. Wallachia was now the most

developed of all the Balkan provinces from the point of

the urban settlements and the means of communica-

tion, particularly the railways. The other side of the

coin was illustrated by rural conditions in the rugged

Subcarpathian country which the railway rarely pene-

trated. Regional development generated regional in-

equalities which still persist despite a century of

modernisation.

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