Costel Comana, an engineer with a degree from the Faculty of Transport of the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest in 1986, passed away suddenly at the age of 53.

He began his professional career in Romanian Railways (CFR) where he developed his railway and managerial skills.

In 2002, following transport liberalisation in Romania, particularly with regard to introducing competition in the transport sector, Mr Comana created Regiotrans, the first operator of regional passenger trains, which today has become the second largest in Romania with a 15% share of the rail passenger market.

In 2005, Mr Comana created RCCF-TRANS, the first private infrastructure manager in Romania, which today manages around 2800 km of secondary lines.

Mr Comana gave UIC the opportunity to pilot test the SATLOC system on lines operated by Trans Brasov. The project was developed in collaboration with the European Commission and Galileo Supervisory Authority (GSA) within the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research and Development.

On behalf of the international railway community, UIC expresses its deepest condolences.