Romania's transport minister launches online form for train complaints after 15-minute call center wait
Interim Transport Minister Radu Miruță unveiled an online form for passengers to report problems on CFR trains, following his own unanswered 15-minute call to the railway's call center.
Romania's interim Transport Minister Radu Miruță launched an online form on Monday allowing passengers to report issues encountered on CFR trains. The move comes after the minister himself tried to contact the railway's call center and received no answer for 15 minutes.
A minister's test call
Miruță said he called the CFR call center to ask how many complaints had been registered, but nobody picked up. After 15 minutes he hung up and summoned the directors of CFR Călători and CFR Infrastructură.
To see how the system works from the perspective of an ordinary traveler, I also called the CFR call center to ask how many complaints had been received. For 15 minutes no one answered, after which I hung up. I then summoned the director of CFR Călători and the director of CFR Infrastructură. Typical: on paper we're almost fine.
The online form
The form, shared on the minister's Facebook page, can be completed in a few clicks. It is designed to capture passenger experiences directly, bypassing official reports.
I launched today a simple form that any traveler who had an unpleasant experience can complete in a few clicks. I want to have a picture based on travelers' facts, not on bosses' reports.
Two-week data collection
Complaints will be gathered from across the country for at least two weeks. After that, the ministry will analyse the data to identify the most frequent and severe problems.
For at least two weeks we will collect data from across the country, and then we will see concretely where the biggest problems are and what measures need to be taken.
Sanctions for unpaid maintenance
Miruță warned that the law will be enforced where irregularities are found, including penalties in cases where maintenance is paid for but not actually performed.
I want to see reality exactly as it is and apply the law where we find irregularities, including sanctions if there are cases where maintenance is paid for but, in practice, not done.
Passengers have been reporting broken air conditioning, delays, lack of information, and poor travel conditions. The minister stressed that the initiative aims to ground decisions in real passenger experiences rather than paper reports.
