Issue 8 - January 2007

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Private operators to expand in Eastern European market

In Romania, 25% of the market already belongs to more than 25 private railway operators, the International Transport Journal reports. After benefiting from the recently reduced infrastructure tax for transit services and the liberalisation of the rail market, Romanian private freight railway operators might expand into other markets. Back in January 2006, the World Bank estimated that private operators in Romania had accounted for 10-15% of the rail freight market.

Elsewhere, the state railway Slovenske Zeleznice (SZ) will be facing competition in rail cargo transportation as several foreign rail operators (three Austrian and one Italian) applied for a safety certificate to operate on the Slovenian network this year. With 90% of its services in international transport, SZ however expects to remain the principal carrier of goods for major clients.

(Source: International Transport Journal)

Bombardier wins new European orders

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS – Netherlands Railways) and Spanish National Railways (RENFE) placed new orders for rail vehicles. Bombardier Transportation will build 50 double-deck electric multiple units for NS at Bombardier's plants in Gorlitz and Aachen, Germany, in a contract worth US$569 million.

RENFE selected Bombardier Transportation to supply 100 TRAXX F140 DC locomotives for freight transportation. Some vehicles will be manufactured in Spain according to the US$549 million contract, which also includes a 14-year maintenance service agreement.

(Source: Bombardier Inc)

Eurotunnel restructuring plan approved

Eurotunnel will implement the safeguard plan approved by the Paris Commercial court, that sees £3.36 billion of debt written off and protects the company from bankruptcy. The banking consortium composed of Goldman Sachs/ Deutsche Bank/ Citigroup will refinance the remaining £2.84 billion debt. The newly formed Groupe Eurotunnel will make a share-swap offer for the French and UK share units of the current Eurotunnel companies, according to the Safeguard Restructuring Plan.

“This decision is good for the company, its 2300 employees and its shareholders”, a Eurotunnel statement said. The troubled company recorded £568 million revenues in 2006, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year.

(Source: Eurotunnel)

FS in financial crisis

Italian Railways (FS) announced a staggering 9 million euros daily deficit, in a difficult situation for the company and its 100,000 employees. The International Railway Journal quoted Mr Mauro Moretti, the CEO of FS, saying that 6.1 billion euros are needed over the next years for the high-speed construction programme and conventional network, and to cover the cost of loss-making services. FS is on course for making a 2 billion euros loss in 2006, with 85% of it incurred by its subsidiary Trenitalia, as the Italian government is facing tough decisions over its debt burden.

(Source: International Railway Journal)

I will never allow privatisation of Indian Railways, says rail minister

Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said that Indian Railways was in profit and that he would never allow anyone to privatise the organisation. "Indian Railways is in profit when railway services in countries like England, Germany, Japan and France are running in losses," he said, according to the Press Trust of India.

Indian Railways recorded US$12,3 billion earnings for the 2006 budget, with increases in both freight and passenger services over the previous year. Railway stations at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Puri, Patna, Kolkata, Lucknow, Delhi and Chandigarh would be modernised in the near future. The rail operator will introduce e-ticketing and frequent travellers schemes in an attempt to compete with low-cost airlines.

(Sources: Press Trust of India)

Political agreement to finance Trans-European networks

The EU transport ministers reached a political agreement on principles for granting financial aid worth 8,168 million euros in the field of Trans-European networks for the period 2007-2013. The agreement will be sent for formal approval to the EU Council and then to the European Parliament.

Priority projects such as high-speed tracks Paris – Vienna – Bratislava and Lyon – Torino – Budapest will get between 10 and 30% of the necessary funds from the EU budget, other sources (governments, local and regional communities) having to cover the remaining part.

(Source: EUROPA)

World Bank credits for railways in Bangladesh and Romania

In October 2006, the World Bank approved a US$40 million credit to support the government’s plans to transform Bangladesh Railway into a well-managed, customer-focused organisation, as part of a long-term strategic partnership that includes also the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). It is expected that the project will be followed by another proposed development policy credit of US$60 million for the Railway Reform Programme in 2009.

A month later, the World Bank announced a US$180 million loan for a Transport Sector Support Project in Romania worth US$225 million. Activities for the railway sector will cover infrastructure maintenance, overhaul of interoperable railway lines, and technical assistance.

(Source: The World Bank)

Rail crashes in Mexico and Turkey

A 36-car freight train collided with a bus that crossed a railway track outside Mexico City, on 28 December 2006, killing 24 people and injuring another 12, according to Mexican authorities quoted by Reuters. Police detained the bus driver, who appeared to have misjudged the speed of the train, but he was able to walk away with minor injuries only.

On 4 January 2007, seven people were killed and 19 injured when a freight train ploughed into a truck carrying farm workers in southeast Turkey, the state Anatolian news agency reported. "Preliminary indications show the accident happened because the driver of the truck completely ignored the warnings that a train was approaching," the web site of CNN Turk television quoted senior railway official Hasan Tahsin Koprulu as saying.

(Source: Reuters)

Head on collision kills three and injures more than 70 in Thailand

Three railway employees were killed and more than 70 passengers injured, four of them foreigners, in a collision between two trains at the south of the Thai capital Bangkok, BBC News reported. The accident happened in the early hours of 15 January 2007 when a train took the wrong track and was hit by an oncoming service. Siva Saengmanee, chairman of the state railway association's board, was quoted as saying that a committee had been set up to investigate the accident, which caused damages estimated at US$4 million.

(Source: BBC News)

If you have any feedback, please contact Gabriel Craciun, ITF Senior Researcher (railinfo@itf.org.uk)

Related documents:
Railway News Issue 8 - January 2007 (28kb PDF)

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