Bolivia to renationalise rail network

International Railway Journal revealed that the Bolivian government is planning to regain control over the country’s rail network.  The government intends to buy shares, however achieving control of the rail companies could be a slow process because of a shortage of funds.

Empresa National de Ferrocarriles (ENFER) and Empresa Ferroviarria Oriental, S.A (owned 50% by Genesee & Wyoming Inc and 50% by pension funds on behalf of the Bolivian people) are private companies that operate rail services in Bolivia under long-term concessions.

(Source: International Railway Journal)


ÖBB towards further restructuring

The workforce of Austrian Railways ÖBB could face a reduction sooner than it had been planned.  According to the newspaper Der Standard, ÖBB might decrease its number of railway workers from 52,000 to 40,000 by 2008 instead of 2010.  The state secretary for transport, Hemut Kukacka was quoted saying that privatisation might take a long time, between 8 and 10 years.  However, the railway infrastructure in Austria will continue to be subsidised from the state budget and the company will remain state-owned.

Following the reform started in January 2005, ÖBB has now a holding structure with four autonomous companies (infrastructure, passengers, freight, human resources) and five companies with limited liability.

(Source: Der Standard, August 2006)


East African Community and Rwanda seek World Bank loan for railways

The three member states of the East African Community and Rwanda have applied for a US$280m loan from the World Bank to finance a railway line that would link Rwanda to East Africa, the New Times newspaper in Rwanda reported.

The project is intended to improve the international competitiveness of the region, to decrease high transport costs estimated at more than 35% of the value of exports and to facilitate crossing borders.  Under the agreement, Kenya will incur costs of US$150.17m, Rwanda US$28.5m, Tanzania US$47.9m and Uganda US$39.3m.  The World Bank financing would be US$120.62m for Kenya, US$15m for Rwanda, US$37m for Tanzania and US$26.4m for Uganda.

(Source: The New Times)


PKP Intercity – the first Polish railway privatisation

The Polish transport minister, Jerzy Polaczek, was quoted by Warsaw Business Journal confirming that initial railway privatisation will involve PKP Intercity, the fastest growing company in the PKP group.  “The investment plan envisages expenditures of about PLN1 bn (US$325 million) in purchase and modernisation of rolling stock within three years" said Polaczek.  Out of this sum, it is expected that US$65 million will be obtained from a loan, while some US$100 million will come from PKP Intercity's own funds.
PKP Intercity was created in 2001 along with other PKP Group companies and in 2005 had a net profit of PLN3.1m (US$1 million).  Until 2010 the company will invest PLN1bn (US$325 million) in rolling stock, according to Railway Market Magazine.  This is supposed to double the number of passengers.

(Sources: Warsaw Business Journal, September 2006; Railway Market Magazine, September 2006)


RZD goes for ports and separate freight business

On 22 September 2006, Fairplay Daily News quoted Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russia’s state rail operator RZD, saying that he wants to take shareholding control of several of the country’s ports.  The first in his sights was the largest oil exporter: Novorossiysk.  In previous public remarks, Yakunin indicated that RZD wants to integrate its transport network with container and other port terminals.

Russian Railways (RZD) will create a subsidiary freight business that will become operational in January 2007, with the aim of raising US$2.5 billion from an initial public offering, according to the International Railway Journal.  The investment bank Morgan Stanley estimated that the market capitalisation of the freight entity would be around US$6.8 million.  As the railway reform body ZhelDorReform will hold a preference share only in the new company, the rest will be owned by RZD, which has yet to decide whether to list the company on the stock exchange.

The freight business is forecast to be handling 1.35 billion tonne-km by 2010, earning 90bn roubles a year and generating profits of around 20% of turnover.

(Sources: International Railway Journal , Fairplay Daily News)


SBB funding package approved

Railway Gazette International cited the Swiss transport minister Moritz Leuenburger confirming that Parliament had approved SFr5.88bn (US$4.6 billion) of state funding to support Swiss Federal Railways over the next four years.

Swiss Federal Railways SBB will get SFr3.7bn (US$2.9 billion) for infrastructure modernisation and renewals and SFr1.8bn (US$1.4 billion) for operating support.

On 25 August 2005, SBB announced its decision to develop another two large regional centres, as part of a programme that will see the majority of the country's 3,000 km trunk rail network controlled from five centres by 2015.

(Source: Railway Gazette International)


Bombardier signs contracts for rapid rail system in South Africa

The Gauteng Provincial Government in South Africa announced on 27 September 2006 that it had finalised negotiations and was ready to sign the concession agreement with the Bombela consortium for construction, operation and maintenance of the Gautrain network.  Selected as preferred bidder in July, Bombela includes Bombardier Transportation, French civil engineering group Bouygues and local partners Murray & Roberts and Lolilwe Rail.

The contract for the 54-month design-build portion of the contract is valued at approximately US$3.3 billion (€2.6 billion), with Bombardier’s share of approximately US$950 million.

The project, to be implemented under a Public Private Partnership scheme, consists of financing, design-building, and operation and maintenance of a 80-km rail network, serving 10 stations between Johannesburg, Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg International Airport.  Services will be operated by a fleet of 96 Bombardier Electrostar EMU cars running at up to 160 km/h.  The first stage of the project is due to be inaugurated in 2010, when South Africa will be hosting the next football world cup.

(Sources: Bombardier, Inc., Railway Gazette International)


Deadly accident on German monorail

A magnetic monorail train collided with a maintenance vehicle, killing 23 people and injuring further ten, on 22 September 2006, during a test-run near the town of Lathen in north-western Germany.

The train, which floats on a monorail via a magnetic levitation system called Maglev, was going at nearly 200 km/h (120 mph) on the test track used for tourist trips.  The Transrapid system, developed by Transrapid International (a joint venture between Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp) is capable of speeds up to 450 km/h.

Quoted by BBC News, a spokesman for IABG, the company which operates the train, said the accident had been caused by human error, rather than a technical fault.

(Source: BBC News)


Head-on crash in eastern France

Six people died and 16 were injured when a goods train and a passenger train collided head-on in eastern France at Zoufftgen, close to the Luxembourg border, on 11 October 2006.  The two trains had been sent onto the same section of the line after engineering works had restricted traffic to a single track, said a spokesman from the Franch National Railway Company SNCF.

In a joint statement issued on 15 October 2006, railway authorities from France and Luxembourg said that a human error at the rail traffic control centre in Bettembourg, Luxembourg, was to blame.  The train engineers, both of whom died in the crash, were not at fault, it said.

(Source: BBC News)


Rome metro collision

One person was reported killed and dozens seriously injured when two metro trains collided at Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II station in Rome, during the morning rush hour of 17 October 2006.

The accident occurred when one train arriving at the station crashed into the back of another that was reportedly discharging passengers.  The cause of the accident is being investigated but early reports quoted by BBC News said that one of the trains might have failed to stop at a red light.  Its driver, who was injured, told police he had no memory of the event.

The crash is the first fatal accident ever to hit the Italian metro system.

(Source: BBC News)



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