Journal of Transport Geography 9 (2001) 137150

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Railways and economic development in Romania before 1918

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 the developing 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 halfcentury 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 transport (Lampe and Jackson, 1982, pp. 298303). Transport, especially the development of the railway system, stands out as one of critical preconditions for the consolidation 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. The population of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which were united in 1859 prior to gaining independence (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,

Fax: +44-116-252-3854. E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Turnock).

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 discriminate between trends where the railway did have a particularly powerful inuence, through the demand for coal, and other ways in which the selective spatial development 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 Georgescu (1986) who examine the railway building company of the communist era (`Centrala de Construct ai ii C Ferate') and its predecessors in commemoration of a century of construction by Romanian engineers following the Buz au-M ar a s es ti line of 1881. Jordan (1986) is also a useful reference, but most use has been made of

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the railway archives and issues of the ocial railway journal `Revista C ailor Ferate Rom^ ane' or simply `Revista 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 contemporary economic press provides useful material on industrial 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 international sphere with a signicant input for the DanubeAdriatic 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 began 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 C al aras agurele; also i, Oltenit a, Giurgiu and Turnu M with Craiova and the Transylvanian frontier in the Olt Valley at R^ aul Vadului. Meanwhile in Moldavia the main road (`drumul mare') ran from the Austrian frontier at Mih aileni through the towns of Dorohoi, Botos arlad to the Danube at ani, Ias i, Vaslui and B^ Galat i. But while railway concessions were rst discussed in the early 1840s, (Boicu, 1963) in a study of the Moldavian economy, concludes that nothing was achieved because railways were not considered protable in the context of a low level of industrial development; 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 Danube at Galat i, while the British interest in Wallachia saw merit in a possible connection with the Cernavod aConstant a (Baghas Keni-Kustenjie) railway which might thereby extend westwards to Bucharest and thence to the Austrian border at V^ arciorova near Ors ova. The Constant a 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 Jensen, 1996, p. 434). Commercial interests in Bras ov and Sibiu wanted rail connections with the Danube ports through the Buz au 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 Britons T. Bartlett and W.H. Ward emerged as prospective concessionaires for the Wallachian lines which would connect Bucharest with the frontier at Br aila, Giurgiu and V^ arciorova. 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 through Suceava was preferred to Mih aileni in order to keep well clear of the Russian frontier, though it isolated Botos ani 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 Timis oara in the direction of V^ arciorova). 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 extension across the frontier at Suceava-Burdujeni reached Ias i in 1870 (with a short addition to the Russian frontier at Ungheni four years later). The Strussberg concession provided for further construction to Galat i in 1872 and also for an eastwest line through Wallachia from Galat i to Bucharest and Pites ti (1872), extended to the AustroHungarian frontier at V^ arciorova in 1875 (Fig. 1). In Transylvania the railway arrived at Bras ov from the west in 1873 and the connection with Bucharest through the Predeal pass and Prahova valley was completed 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 between 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 economists like P.S. Aurelian had recognised: ``beyond any

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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.

doubt railway building was of the utmost importance as far as public works were concerned [despite] burdensome abuses and obligations'' until the concessions were redeemed (Berindei, 1988, p. 30). Some of the later extensions to the network were of major signicance, like the more direct access from Bucharest to Moldavia via Buz au and Focs ani (1881), the line to Constant a which included the bridge over the Danube between Fetes ti and Cernavod a (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 frontier crossings at Reni (1877), Ghimes -Palanca (1899) and R^ aul Vadului (1901). There was also a sustained branch line programme, beginning immediately after independence, with links provided with Sl anic and Telega in 1883, T^ argu Ocna in 1884, Piatra Neamt al aras 1885, C i 1886, C^ ampulung, Corabia, F alticeni, Slobozia and Turnu M agurele in 1887, T^ argu Jiu in 1888 and Hus i 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, Panciu and V alenii de Munte (Tighiliu, 1990). The two latter

places were established markets, while Nehoiu was a newly established logging centre in the Buz au 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 Bras ov, Craiova and Ias i, 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 workers, 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 routelength 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-

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Table 1 Development of the railway system in the regat 18701915a Year Criteria Ab 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915
a b

Bc 1468 n.a. 6900 n.a. 13870 n.a. 17724 n.a. 27700 35000

Cd 75 114 141 197 302 433 464 n.a. 762 932

De 326 422 302 432 893 964 1130 n.a. 1752 1790

Ef 1151 1842 3350 4368 6396 8673 10918 n.a. 17778 23578

Fg n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 80.1 103.9 107.6 111.6 n.a. n.a.

Gh n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 12.8 29.5 34.6 33.7 n.a. n.a.

Hi n.a. 133 144 174 249 288 326 n.a. n.a. n.a.

Ij n.a. 0.78 n.a. 1.42 n.a. 5.85 n.a. 6.60 n.a. 11.57

Jk n.a. 0.55 n.a. 1.55 n.a. 3.52 n.a. 5.76 n.a. 9.90

Kl n.a. 4.40 n.a. 4.96 n.a. 5.64 n.a. 6.48 n.a. 7.90

248 916 916 1354 2416 2526 3070 3180 3468 3702

Source: Anuaral Statistic (1905), Botez et al. (1977, pp. 145, 156, 175). 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).

ing, thereby contributing to changes in the quality of labour as well as the urbanrural balance. In this context, 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 provision of housing in distinct railway neighbourhoods, like Grant in Bucharest and Nicolina in Ias i; 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 locomotive 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 were supplied 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 V^ arciorova gave rise to a growth in engineering skills, culminating in the establishment of the bridge-building workshop in Pites ti in 1915 (still operating today as the IPMPB enterprise, dealing with both metal and concrete construction). Locomotive re-

pairs were carried out in Galat i and Ploies ti before the CFR central workshops were completed at Grivit a (Bucharest) in 1906: an extension of the wagon repair facility which opened in 1897. The repair of steam locomotives began in 1917 and the original `Gara T^ argovis tei' workshops in Bucharest were eventually transferred to Grivit a 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 Ploies ti (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 Ploies ti. The role of the railways can also be seen through their demands for substantial quantities of various commodities which could be produced to an increasing extent 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, Ias i and Turnu Severin (the latter closely connected with the shipyard) were important national assets. Building materials and fuel were much in demand. The production of cement began at Br aila in 1891 and the CFR opened

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141

it own brickworks at Ciurea near Ias i in the same year. The Vaslui-Ias i railway was under construction at the time, but the factory subsequently provided materials for the lining of Movileni Tunnel on the Ias i-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 V^ arciorova. 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. Filipes tii de P adure near B aicoi was another source which attracted attention after the Prahova valley line opened in 1879; as was Ceptura, lying close to the main line between Ploies au. ti and Buz More substantial sources were found in the D^ ambovit argovis a valley at Doices ti (north of T^ te)   where the S otinga and M a rgineanc a 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 service (`Serviciul Minelor') which included responsibility for M argineanc a, producing 55,000 t in 1889. However, the organisation was transferred to Ministerul Agriculturii Domeniilor Industrie s i Comert ului in 1891. Schitu Goles ampulung opened in 1902 (with its railti near C^ way from Jidava in 1906). The `Lignit' company was created in 1909 and expanded operations in the hills around Schitu Goles ti using a four kilometer funicular built in 1910 and capable of transporting up to 150 t
Table 2 CFR fuel consumption 18811913a Fuel 18811891 Ab Domestic fuel Lignite Oil Wood Imported fuel Cardi coal Westphalian coal Silesian coal Petros ani coal Serbian coal Total
a

daily. Meanwhile, mining began in Moldavia at As au in the Trotus Valley in 1903 and served the railways of the province (Ganit chi, 1932): there were two separate companies operating at As au-Com anes ti and D arm anes ti (Iosa, 1963). In 19111912, total coal output in the Regat amounted to 242,000 t: 78,000 from Schitu Goles ti; 128,000 from the Doices ti, Filipes tii de P adure 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 Bistrit a 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 further 370 could burn a mixture of oil and lignite) (Popescu, 1987, p. 157). In this way the low grade coal became 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 equivalent') 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 dependence on imported coal, needed by the more powerful locomotives. Welsh steam coal (`Cardi Coal') was preferred and other fuels were rated against the Cardi standard; but Silesian and Westphalian supplies were

18921902 Bc 31.88 5.34 1.01 25.53 29.98 25.45 2.17 1.36 1.00 61.86 Ab 46.70 9.47 174.00 48.79 11.72 7.93 2.31 4.93 Bc 64.85 16.34 12.60 35.91 73.33 48.79 11.72 7.24 1.78 3.80 138.18

19031913 Ab 130.99 114.37 181.52 9.06 11.63 1.34 1.04 Bc 236.07 45.85 152.11 38.12 22.73 9.06 11.63 1.24 0.80 258.80

15.25 0.76 121.55 25.45 2.35 1.76 1.30

Note: Ganit chi's gures for total consumption (Cardi equivalent ) are 67.39; 138.00; and 270.40. Discrepancies arise when the published conversion 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 Com anes ti) ; Oil 1.33; Wood 0.21; Westphalian coal 1.0; Silesian coal 0.925; Petros ani/Serbian coal 0.77. Source: Ganit chi (1932).

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also used; along with coal from Petros ani in Transylvania which also supplied the Hungarian railways and became the main source of fuel for the railways of Greater Romania after the First World War. Dependence 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 services 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 Ploies ti. Railway fares benetted from a taper structure which gave considerable advantages to people travelling from Bucharest to the northern and western frontiers (Fig. 2). Distances of up to around 100 km from Bucharest were charged at a rate of 12.012.9 km per lei whereas a passenger travelling to Botos ani 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 Galat i, Suceava and Lemberg (with a sleeping car available in 1875). The direct route through V^ arciorova, Timis oara 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 Constant a in 1895, oering a journey time of 53 h to Istanbul from Paris. This represented 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 Buz au and taken to join the Orient Express at Fetes ti. There was a close liaison with the national shipping company `Serviciul 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 landlocked 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 directly 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 Rom^ ani') travelling 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 requirements of the postal service were now a factor in railway route selection, particularly with regard to such circuitous routes as Bucharest to Craiova via Pites ti. 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 functions, as at R^ amnicu V^ alcea. Urban studies frequently mention 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 M ar a s es ti in 1902 (Cioaca and S anescu, 1992, p. 326); though little re tef 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 attracted 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 Buz au, the station was built in 1872, one kilometer east of the centre between the main roads to Br aila (Calea Dobrogei) and Ploies ti (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 Br aila and Ploies ti roads, bypassing the town centre. Renamed rst B-dul Garii and later B-dul Nicolae B alcescu, Strada Banului attracted a number of major buildings including a church (Biserica Banului), a senior school and the prefecture. It became a fashionable 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 station 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 railways. 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 B ar agan (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 connected, 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 precondition 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 infrastructure and it is evident that Bucharest's dominance over the second city, Ias i, increased progressively. There was also increasing dierentiation between provincial towns as the railways reinforced the nodality of the bestplaced urban centres. It is interesting to see that Botos ani fell in the rankings from third in 1859 to seventh in 1915, reecting its branch line status; while the towns of Buz au, Craiova and Turnu Severin, along with ports of Br aila, Galat i and especially Constant a 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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Fig. 3. The largest towns of the Regat 1859 and 1915. (Source: Chirita, 1989.)

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 commercial life. Small, local markets (`t^ argus oarele') appeared in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s at focal points (often administrative centres for each district or `ocol') where weekly markets were held. These places were generally regarded as towns in 18591860, but many were bypassed completely by the railways: like S anesti on the tef Prut 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 survivors 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 (Colones ti, Gaiceana,

Podu Turcului and Stanises ti) 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, M ar a s es ti and Vaslui to a lesser extent (Poghirc, 1972, pp. 183186). The phenomenon of the development axis was most noticeable in the case of the Ploies tiBras ov line along the Prahova valley which attracted urban and industrial growth on an unprecedented scale. The section from Flores ti to Predeal had a population of 31,522 in 1899, rising to 43,162 in 1912 (Popp, 1929). Oil was found around C^ ampina and the `Steaua Romana' company built 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 oileld engineering; for `Concordia', operating in the Bus tenari and Telega areas, opened their engineering works in 1908 and this was to become the famous `I Mai' plant of the socialist period. In addition, there was wood processing in the higher sections of the valley

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^mpulung; one of opened from Goles ti near Pites ti to Ca 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, although 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 subsistence farming. The withdrawal of arable farming from the higher surfaces of the Mehedint i Plateau and Vrancea Depression was aggravated by declining fertility 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 potential was available. In the B ar agan the construction of the Constant a railway in a straight line across the steppe greatly increased the accessibility of potential cereal lands which had previously been remote from the river valley settlements along the Danube and the Ialomit a. 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 movement 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 Mehedint i Plateau where population pressure was relieved; also in the Tutova Hills where people moved further down the valleys towards Adjud, B^ arlad 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 information for 1912 (dealing with population and amenities) 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.)

around Bus teni. 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 C^ ampina and Sinaia in 1898; with some transfer of power from Sinaia to C^ ampina 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') at C^ ampulung is a case in point. The decision to provide for the training of teachers for country schools in Wallachia 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 C^ ampulung was taken in 1887 in the light of King Carol's interest in the locality, the provision of land by Dimitrie Sturdza and the administrative work of successive education ministers including Spiru C. Haret. But it cannot be without signicance that 1887 was the year when the railway

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Fig. 5. Commune functions in eastern Wallachia, southern Moldavia and Dobrogea in relation to the railway network 1912. (Source: Ministerul Agriculturii, 1914.)

`district services' which were only present in the communes which acted as centres for a wider area. In the upper part of the Buz au valley, comprising a total of 14 communes, only four had stations on the Buz au-Nehoias au, Nehoias altineni and u railway: Cisl u, P P at arlagele, which was the centre for Colt arunt i, M is u, Mlajetu, P an at au, Sibiciu and Valea Mus celului communes. 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 sanitary and medical facilities. P at^ arlagele'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 Buz au river in giving access to communes on the eastern side, including Colt an at au and Sibiciu, i, Mlajet, P P at^ arlagele was in a good position to develop a small tourist industry based on the mineral water at Sibiciu and the amber found at Colt au bei. Meanwhile Cisl came a nodal point on a somewhat smaller scale and

Nehoias u 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 comparative advantage in the global capitalist system (Zane, 1973, p. 166). The country's resources could be more eectively mobilised and a rapid development of export business was sustained through the transport of cereals, oil and timber to the ports. This was especially true in the case of Constant a which became Romania's leading port by the beginning of the 20th century, enjoying direct railway connections with Bucharest, Ploies ti and Buz au (Ciorbea, 1990). There was scope for specialisation and the creation of complementary industrial regions, 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

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

dispersed throughout the system. There were factories dependent on imported raw materials that were situated in inland areas, like the fertiliser factory at M ar a s es ti, based on imported phosphate, and the sulphuric acid factory at Valea C alug areasc a, using Spanish pyrites. Sugar beet factories were scattered throughout Moldavia: at M ar a s es ti, Rapiceni (near Botos ani) and Roman, 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 undermined, 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 commodities 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 (Botos ani and Dorohoi), previously used for rearing livestock exported on the hoof, could now enter the grain trade and Botos ani 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 meant that 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 Buz au 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-

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

comotive introduced in 1890 for mountain routes like Ploies ti-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. Constant a became an important resort for Bucharest people after the railway link was completed in 1890. A sea-bathing station (`baile de mare') was opened south of the town and a three-kilometer railway was built to `Baile de la Vii' (situated between Constant a and Agigea), with a programme of leisure trains (`trenuri de agrement') operating from Ovidiu and Constant a. 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 Constant a where another bathing station began to develop. Some of the original rolling stock provided for the Cernavod a-Constant a 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 C alim anes ti 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 complemented by crucial political developments, including unication 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. International 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,

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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 industrialisation 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 contrast 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 economique materielle et morale'' that Romania ``est devenue presque 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 communication, particularly the railways. The other side of the coin was illustrated by rural conditions in the rugged Subcarpathian country which the railway rarely penetrated. Regional development generated regional inequalities which still persist despite a century of modernisation.

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