Private company

Regio Călători

Romanian rail company

Regio Călători, formerly Regiotrans and Feroviar Keolis, is a private rail company headquartered in Brașov, Romania.2 It employed 667 people in 2019.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2004Founded1
  • Industrypassenger transport, rail transport1
  • HeadquartersBrașov1
  • Websiteregiocalatori.ro
  • Legal formsocietate cu răspundere limitată1
57-0401 RO-RGT Marghita
Photo: Petr Štefek, CC BY-SA 3.0 cz, via Wikimedia Commons4

Regio Călători, formerly Regiotrans and Feroviar Keolis, is a private rail company headquartered in Brașov, Romania.2

The story

It was founded in 2005 and is exclusively active in the passenger transport sector. At present Regiotrans runs about 200 train services per day.

It originally operated as Feroviar Keolis, being rebranded Regiotrans after Keolis made a trademark claim.

On 17 March 2015, the Romanian Rail Safety Authority revoked the company's Part B safety certificate and the company ceased operations on all routes until further notice. Căile Ferate Române (CFR), the national rail carrier has taken over (from March 18, 2015, for the time being) some of the routes; but not all, and those that CFR had taken on operated with a skeleton service. The sudden cessation of Regiotrans services, with virtually no notice, took many travellers by surprise; some passengers being stranded in fields. Their Regiotrans season tickets were honoured by CFR, but clearly only if CFR were providing an emergency replacement. A refund, however, was available for longer period season ticket holders.

Particularly in the Banat region, there were no alternative bus routes. Many villages and even substantial towns, therefore, had no practical public transport option. Services restarted on certain routes on 1 April 2015, the company apparently having obtained the safety certificates following a fast track procedure ("în regim de urgență"). Further re-openings were effected in mid/late April 2015 (for example Ineu–Cermei), several routes, however, remain closed, following changes in the subsidy allocations and calculation' regulations, that occurred in March 2015.

The company had been experiencing difficulties due to alleged subsidy corruption. Not the least problem faced by its major shareholders and directors was that a majority shareholder and joint senior executive, Costel Comana after taking drugs, committed suicide by hanging himself with his shoelaces in a toilet aboard a flight between Colombia and Costa Rica. Comana had fled Romania for Brazil after the arrest of his co-chief executive (and joint owner of Regioalatori), Iorgu Ganea. Ganea had been arrested and faced prosecution regarding subsidy irregularities.

From Wikipedia’s article on Regio Călători, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Employees over time

Regio Călători employees by year1667 in 2019−12% since 2012
02004006008002012: 76076020122018: 6006002018−21%2019: 6676672019+11%
  • 20196671
  • 20186001
  • 20127601

Timeline

  1. 2004Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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