The present article examines the engineering of the first railway in Bessarabia, from the perspective of costs and the perception of its necessity among the population of the province. It is shown that the initiative of extension of Odessa railway to Bessarabia came from local Nobles’ Assembly, which solicited the Russian government that the engineering to be covered by a special tax on local land owners. Still when the acceptance came, it turned out that the local land owners refused massively to pay the tax, and only after special measures were applied, tax accumulation started to augment. Even if the resulted project of the first railway, engineered by baron K. K. Ungern von Sternberg, was officially rejected in 1866 to be the continuation of Odessa railway, the decision was later reassessed, and between 1869-1875 the Bender-Ungheni railway was put into operation.