The standard railway gauge in Romania is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), which is the standard European gauge used throughout most of the continent. This allows for relatively seamless rail travel between Romania and its western neighbors like Hungary and Serbia. However, Romania also maintains a small amount of broad gauge (1,524 mm) trackage near its eastern borders with Moldova and Ukraine, which utilize the former Soviet standard. In 2026, a major infrastructure project is underway to build the first "European-gauge" electrified line connecting Chisinau (Moldova) to Ungheni and onward into Romania, aimed at finally eliminating the need for time-consuming wheel-gauge changes at the border. The Romanian rail network (CFR) is currently undergoing significant modernization to allow for speeds of up to 140–160 km/h on major corridors like the one linking Bucharest to the Black Sea. While the physical gauge is standard, the aging infrastructure in rural areas still results in slower average speeds compared to Western Europe, though the 2026 timetable updates have introduced several new high-speed "InterCity" connections.