CFR Călători has been ordered by the court to disclose how it ended up paying twice for its IT ticket sales system, according to a press release from the Foundation for the Defense of Citizens Against State Abuse (FACIAS) sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

The organization states that it has secured a significant victory in court against the state-owned railway company, which is “required to disclose information of public interest regarding the procurement of the new IT system for ticket issuance and seat reservations, as well as the costs incurred by the delay in its implementation.”

According to data analyzed by FACIAS, CFR Călători initiated a project to replace the current centralized IT system used for issuing tickets and reserving seats with a more advanced digital one. Following a public tender, the contract for leasing hardware and software was awarded to ASEE Solutions.

"Problems arose immediately after the equipment was delivered, when CFR Călători realized that it did not have the technical services necessary to operationalize the new system and that, in the absence of a separate service contract, the new technology could not be installed and put into operation. Specifically, there was no contract in effect with Informatica Feroviară SA for the installation, integration, and operation of the new system. As a result, the equipment for the new system remained unused, even though CFR Călători continued to pay monthly rent for it. The situation became even more complicated because the maintenance contract for the current national system for issuing travel passes and seat reservations, known as xSell, was about to expire. "To avoid a complete shutdown of train ticket sales and reservations, CFR Călători was forced to initiate a direct procurement procedure for support and maintenance services for the current xSell system, for a period of one additional year," the statement notes.

Foundation representatives argue that, as a result, costs were paid simultaneously for a new system that could not be used and for the costs necessary to keep the old system operational.

"After being notified, FACIAS requested that CFR Călători provide information on the status of the procurement process for the new train ticket sales system, the monthly rental fee paid for equipment leased from ASEE Solutions SRL, the total amount paid since the contract was signed, the date the equipment was delivered, and whether it is currently in use. At the same time, FACIAS requested information regarding the latest support and maintenance contract for the existing IT system, including its duration and cost. Following CFR Călători’s unjustified refusal to provide this information, FACIAS filed a lawsuit. And in May 2026, the Bucharest Tribunal upheld FACIAS’s lawsuit and ordered CFR Călători to provide all the requested information (…) This is another case of public money waste identified by FACIAS as part of the ‘Turn Off the Tap of Waste!’ campaign. Through this initiative, FACIAS aims to draw attention to the flawed way in which public funds are managed and to urge the authorities to adopt measures for the efficient, responsible, and transparent administration of public funds," according to the press release.

The organization is calling on CFR Călători to immediately comply with the ruling and make all requested information public, as "citizens have the right to know how public funds are managed and why a modernization project has stalled after the delivery of equipment, generating unjustified additional costs."

For its part, CFR Călători states that all public data is posted and updated periodically on the company’s website, under the section “Company/Public Interest Information/Public Procurement/Public Procurement Summary/Status of Contracts Executed Following Public Procurement Procedures/CFR Călători Headquarters.”

"In this context, FACIAS’s so-called 'victory' is merely an attempt to artificially create a public issue based on information that has been transparently available since 2024 and 2025, in accordance with legal obligations. We note that the implementation of the new IT system was not a simple ‘installation’ process, but a structural reform of the ticket issuance process. Maintaining the old system while preparing the new one was a standard procedure for disaster recovery, to prevent sales from being blocked, and to ensure business continuity. It was not an “absurd situation,” but a technical necessity to avoid a total shutdown of the sales system in the event of errors in integrating the new technology. "We believe that labeling this modernization project as 'wasteful' is premature and ignores the technical complexity of a system that serves millions of passengers annually," states the position of CFR Călători, as requested by AGERPRES.

Given the importance of the xSell system, considering that the issuance of travel tickets is CFR Călători’s main source of revenue, as well as the technical considerations associated with the implementation and operationalization of the new infrastructure, company representatives specify that the adaptation, migration, and configuration could not be procured before CFR Călători was certain that the new platforms had been delivered and configured at the basic hardware and software level.

Furthermore, the process of adapting, migrating, and configuring the xSell system was a phased one, requiring the existence and availability of the new technical platforms, in the absence of other equipment on which these operations could be performed.

"The continuity of the ticket issuance process had to be ensured at all times, without interruption, until the new IT architecture was fully operational; maintaining maintenance and support services for the old xSell architecture, at least for critical equipment in the central infrastructure, was essential for the system to operate within normal parameters and for the prompt resolution of any technical incidents," the company’s document further states.

AGERPRES