Romania’s railways · 1854–1869
Two answers appear in the press, 1854 and 1869, and both are called “the first”. Both are right, because “first” can mean three different things.
First line on the territory of present-day Romania
Oravița–Baziaș
20 August 1854
The line was first used only for coal, 62.5 km long, between Oravița and the Danube port of Baziaș. At the time the Banat belonged to the Austrian Empire.
1854 or 1869? Both are right, once you say what you are measuring. The first line on today’s map of Romania opened 15 years before Bucharest–Giurgiu. The Banat was then in the Austrian Empire.
The two lines are 355 km apart in a straight line. The map shows only what lies inside Romania’s borders today. The historical regions are approximate, drawn from the 1930 counties.
Because “Romania” can mean the country of today or the state of the time. In 1854 the Banat was in the Austrian Empire, and in Wallachia and Moldavia the first train ran only in 1869. HotNews The single question hides three questions:
Oravița–Baziaș, opened on 20 August 1854. CFR
The same Oravița–Baziaș, from 1 November 1856. CFR
Bucharest–Giurgiu, in 1869. The Romania of the time was the state of the United Principalities. AGIR notes that the older lines lay in Romanian provinces that were then outside the national borders, such as the Banat, part of the Austrian Empire. AGIR, 2010 CFR
When you read “the first railway in Romania”, ask: today’s Romania or the one of the time? Mediafax wrote that Bucharest–Giurgiu is “the first railway built in Romania”. For the state of the time, that is correct. For today’s territory, the first remains Oravița–Baziaș.
Oravița–Baziaș, in the Banat. Here the line is drawn on today’s map, along the route preserved in OpenStreetMap. It shows what no list says: a long stretch of it now runs through Serbia.
The route is the one preserved in OpenStreetMap, and the stops are placed at the point of the track nearest to each village.
20 August 1854
It is 62.5 km long and was used at first only for coal, towards the Danube port of Baziaș. CFR Thirteen Engerth locomotives, built in Vienna, were brought for it. AGIR, 2010 Building took from 1846 to 1854. Oravița Town Hall The Banat was then a province of the Austrian Empire.
1847
The station was finished in 1847, before the first run on the line. CFR Călători calls it the first station on the present territory of Romania. CFR Călători Oravița Town Hall notes it may have been ready as early as 1846. Oravița Town Hall
km 0–28
The line passes Răcășdia, Vrăniuț, Berliște, Milcoveni and Iam. Up to here every stop is in today’s Romania.
km 28
28 km from Oravița, between Iam and Iasenova, the line leaves today’s Romania. For the next 28 km the line runs through Serbia: past Iasenova (Jasenovo), Biserica Albă (Bela Crkva) and Vracevgai (Vračev Gaj). AGIR also notes that Iasenova was a station on the Baziaș–Oravița line. AGIR, 2010 At the time the Banat was part of the Austrian Empire. CFR
km 56
At Socol the line enters today’s Romania again and, after another 5 km, reaches Baziaș, the Danube port.
On the map
On the preserved route the line measures 61 km; CFR gives 62.5. Nearly half the line, 28 km, now lies in Serbia. The definition “on today’s territory” still stands, because both ends, Oravița and Baziaș, are in Romania. But the first line here is not wholly in today’s Romania. Romanian Wikipedia also says that on the Iam–Baziaș stretch the line ran through today’s Serbia. Wikipedia (RO)
1 November 1856
After technical improvements, passenger trains begin to run on the line. The first passenger train had three carriages. Oravița Town Hall CFR
It was the first line built in the Romanian state of the time, and it linked Filaret station in Bucharest with Giurgiu on the Danube. CFR AGIR, 2017
Departs 10:45Arrives after 1 h 30 min
26 August 1869
Carol I leaves Filaret station for Giurgiu, on a journey AGIR calls “the first on the Bucharest–Giurgiu line”. At Giurgiu he boards a steamer for his native lands: he had promised not to leave the country until he could do so by rail. CFR gives this day as the opening to traffic. AGIR, 2010
19 October 1869
The official inauguration, on a Sunday, by the old calendar; 31 October by today’s. The train leaves at 10:45 and arrives an hour and a half later, with a stop at Comana. The second train, the locomotive Dunărea, is driven by Nicolae Tănase, regarded as the first Romanian locomotive driver. The line also opens to passengers. AGIR, 2010 AGIR, 2017
In 1865 the concession went to a British consortium made up of John Trevor Barkley and John Staniforth. AGIR, 2017
Filaret station, opened with the line, was Bucharest’s first station and the first in the United Principalities. AGIR, 2017 In 1870 the line was extended to Smârda. AGIR, 2010
The line is now being modernised. Economedia reported on 13 August 2026 that traffic is due to reopen fully in September 2028. Economedia
Building of the Oravița–Baziaș line begins. Oravița Town Hall
Oravița station is finished, the first on the present territory of Romania. CFR Călători
Oravița–Baziaș opens, 62.5 km, for coal. CFR
First passengers on Oravița–Baziaș. CFR
Timișoara–Szeged (1857), Timișoara–Iasenova (1858) and Cernavodă–Constanța (4 October 1860, in Ottoman Dobruja) open. AGIR, 2010
Oravița–Anina opens for coal, and from 1869 for passengers. It is the first mountain railway in south-eastern Europe. CFR Călători
Carol I travels on Bucharest–Giurgiu; CFR gives the day as the opening to traffic. AGIR, 2010 CFR
Official inauguration of the line and of Filaret station. AGIR, 2017
AGIR counts Bucharest–Giurgiu as the eleventh line built on the present territory of Romania. AGIR, 2010
Because “in Romania” can mean today’s territory or the state of the time. Oravița–Baziaș (1854) is the first line on the present territory of Romania, according to CFR; the Banat was then in the Austrian Empire. Bucharest–Giurgiu (1869) is the first line built in the Romanian state of the time.
The first station on today’s territory is Oravița, finished in 1847, seven years before the line opened. The first station in the United Principalities was Filaret, in Bucharest, opened on 19/31 October 1869.
On Oravița–Baziaș from 1 November 1856, in a train of three carriages. On Bucharest–Giurgiu, Carol I travelled on 26 August 1869 and, according to AGIR, passenger transport began on 19 October 1869 (31 October by today’s calendar).
On today’s territory in 1854, at Oravița, on the coal line to Baziaș. In the Romanian state of the time, in 1869, at Bucharest.
CFR Călători writes that the line is still functional only between Oravița and Iam. In 2010 AGIR gave 27 km for that stretch and noted that between Iam and Baziaș the railway no longer existed.
The line is being modernised. Traffic is due to resume fully in September 2028, according to Economedia (13 August 2026).
The core dates come from CFR, the Oravița Town Hall and AGIR. Every claim on the page has its source indicated.
We measured the kilometres in Romania and in Serbia along the line’s route, followed through the traces it left on the OpenStreetMap map, against the state border on the same map. The line is mostly disused or abandoned. The kilometres are rounded, and the route on the map may differ slightly from the 1854 one. The map data is from 2 October 2026. Cross-check: from Oravița to Iam the map gives 27 km, as AGIR does. AGIR, 2010
For Oravița–Baziaș CFR gives 62.5 km; on the map, 61 km.
For 1854 and 1856 we use the CFR dates, with no calendar stated; Oravița Town Hall writes them as double dates, 20/30 August and 1/11 November. For 1869 AGIR notes 19/31 October: 19 in the old calendar, 31 in today’s; Romania moved to the new calendar only in April 1919. HotNews The sources do not say which calendar the 26 August date uses.