The narrow-gauge railway 'Mocanita' running along Bistrita Valley could be used for tourism, at least on the Francesti - Bistrita section, as a private investor is interested in buying and reopening this part of the line, which until 2019 transported limestone to the former Govora Soda Works, the Costesti Town Hall announced this week.

'Regarding the Bistrita - Govora railway, which is due to be dismantled, we inform you that a pre-contract for the sale of the Francesti - Bistrita section has been signed with a private investor. The purpose of this acquisition is to turn this section into a tourist railway,' the local authorities wrote on Facebook, promising updates as they come.

Efforts to save the 'Mocanita' in this part of Vâlcea County and use it for tourism were launched last year by the Kogayon Association and Oltenia de sub Munte / Foothill Oltenia - a UNESCO aspiring geopark, which also initiated an online petition that has gathered around 3,000 signatures.

However, their proposal to local and county authorities to start talks with the railway's owners for a possible public-private partnership or another form of reuse did not receive support from the Valcea County Council.

'In short, the Valcea County Council says it cannot take on such an investment. The current owner of the railway commissioned a 'Technical report on the condition of the railway line', which states that 'the dismantling project must begin'. The justification is economic (rehabilitation would cost over 20 million euros, compared with only 1.33 million euros for dismantling). We will continue our efforts and request that technical report. We proposed a study to save at least the upper section (Tomsani - Bistrita), which we are also willing to finance, and we brought in partners experienced in railway tourism. We repeatedly requested a meeting to discuss our proposal, but the County Council did not respond,' the Kogayon Association said more than six months ago.

The story of this narrow-gauge train service, the only one south of the Carpathians, began at the end of the 19th century, when a narrow-gauge railway was established by royal decree, linking the mountain area of Vaideeni to the town of Babeni. The roughly 50-kilometre route carried timber from the mountains and was also used by workers from Vaideeni, Costesti, Tomsani, Francesti and Babeni. It operated until after World War II, when communist authorities dismantled the Tomsani- Vaideeni section as road infrastructure expanded.

In 1959, with the construction of the Govora Soda Works, the 'Mocanita' was revived to transport limestone from Costesti, on a modified route between the chemical platform in Ramnicu Vâlcea and Babeni, and from Tomsani to the quarry, preserving about 70% of the original line.

Today, the railway crossing five Valcea localities - Mihaesti, Babeni, Francesti, Tomsani and Costesti - is no longer in use, as limestone transport to the Râmnicu Valcea chemical platform stopped in 2019, when the plant's owners, Poland's Ciech SA, halted production.

The current owners, two Romanian companies, one specializing in waste recovery, took over the former factory's assets, including the railway line, about a year ago. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Ramona Dinca; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)