All Policy articles – Page 91
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NewsSNCB in the firing line
BELGIUM: Early last month La Libre Belgique published excerpts from an interim report drawn up by the Audit Commission (Cour des Comptes) which said Belgian National Railways had broken European rules on public financing. Specifically, the newspaper highlighted a sum of €426m forming part of a €510m government grant ...
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NewsPilbara open access from November 20
AUSTRALIA: Three heavy haul iron ore railways in West Australia are to be 'declared' permitting third parties to negotiate open access with effect from November 19, Commonwealth Treasurer Wayne Swan announced on October 27. Swan will 'declare' BHP Billiton's Goldsworthy railway and Rio Tinto's Robe River and Hamersley lines ...
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NewsRZD and RENFE sign co-operation agreement
RUSSIA: State railway RZD announced on October 24 that it had signed a six-year agreement with Spain's RENFE Operadora under which the organisations will co-operate to share their experiences in areas including the selection, production, operation and maintenance of high-speed trains. The companies will also discuss passenger and ...
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NewsSBB Cargo pulls potential partners
SWITZERLAND: Strong interest in SBB Cargo was evident when bids to work in partnership with the freight operator closed. As many as 25 organisations had submitted expressions of interest by September 22, and 14 of these had handed in firm offers by the October 15 deadline. Head of SBB ...
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NewsKiwiRail structure finalised
NEW ZEALAND: The final structure of the renationalised rail industry came into effect on October 1. Operator KiwiRail and infrastructure manager Ontrack are now separate operating units of New Zealand Railways Corp, the legacy body which held remaining assets after the now-reversed privatisation in the 1990s. The previous NZ ...
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NewsDB flotation put on hold
GERMANY: The partial flotation of DB Mobility Logistics AG scheduled for October 27 has been postponed as a result of the turmoil in the global financial markets, which would have impacted on the potential value of the shares. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück and DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn announced the decision ...
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NewsRecognising the total value of railways
ECONOMICS: Almost all railways generate economic and societal benefits, but these are rarely recognised in monetary values. It is up to governments to define public as opposed to commercial or private benefits. If it is deemed logical to have a viable railway, then the government needs to work out a ...
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NewsRailroads agree PTC interoperability standards
USA: Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern announced on October 8 that they had agreed to work together on establishing interoperability standards for Positive Train Control. They were joined the following day by CSX, paving the way for a wider implementation of PTC across the North American rail network. The ...
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NewsNSW moves to abolish RailCorp
AUSTRALIA: The Labor administration in New South Wales has decided to abolish RailCorp and return the state’s rail nework to government control. Premier Nathan Rees said on October 8 that legislation would be introduced into the next session of Parliament to abolish the corporation’s management board and convert the organisation ...
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NewsMarket reforms revitalise European rail freight
FREIGHT: Does competition between operators improve efficiency and is the separation of infrastructure from operations necessary to develop viable competition? Jeremy Drew compares the impact on customers of railway reforms in three European countries.
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NewsSBB seeks freight partner
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways plans to team up with a partner to ensure its survival in the competitive European freight market.
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NewsState aid study
EUROPE: The European Commission is to determine whether public service contracts concluded between the Ministry of Transport and national railway DSB for the periods 2000-04 and 2005-14 amount to state aid. Many DSB services are operated on the basis of public service contracts agreed without tendering. DSB is required ...
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NewsSwiss ETCS roll-out plan confirmed
SWITZERLAND: The Ministry of Transport has confirmed plans to roll out ETCS across the entire standard gauge rail network by 2017, at an estimated cost of SFr370m. The decision was announced on August 21, at an event attended by the European Commission’s special co-ordinator for ERTMS, Karel Vinck. With ...
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NewsDB flotation planned for October 27
On September 26 Deutsche Bahn AG confirmed its plans for the partial flotation of the operating business DB Mobility Logistics AG. The first day of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will be October 27, when 24·9% of DB ML shares will go on offer to public and private investors. ...
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NewsTentative steps towards the private sector
PRIVATISATION: After much debate and two false starts, the partial flotation of DB is now moving ahead.
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Approval for 2030 strategy
RUSSIA: The federal government has approved a long-term strategy setting priorities for the development of the national rail network to 2030. The strategy is to be implemented in two phases. The main objective of the first period covering 2008-15 is to modernise the infrastructure and renew life-expired motive power and ...
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Uncertain times in Estonia
ESTONIA: National rail operator Eestie Raudtee confirmed last month that it planned to split infrastructure management and freight train operations into separate companies with effect from January 1 2009. New subsidiaries EVR Infra and EVR Cargo are to be established, with EVR remaining as a holding company to deal with ...
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NewsRDC sells Central East African Railway stake
AFRICA: Railroad Development Corp has completed the sale of its stake in Nacala Corridor concessionaire Central East African Railway to Mozambican investment group Insitec, the Pittsburgh-based rail management and investment company announced on September 15. 'The sale of our economic interests to local investors represents a major development in ...
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NewsKorail sets out its 2015 vision
SOUTH KOREA: With traffic climbing steeply in recent years, Korail is focusing on further expansion of its passenger business and seeking ways to strengthen its freight operations in a competitive global market.
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NewsCommission looking into DSB funding
DENMARK: The European Commission is to determine whether public service contracts concluded between the Ministry of Transport and national railway DSB for the periods 2000-04 and 2005-14 amount to state aid. Many DSB services are operated on the basis of public service contracts agreed without tendering. DSB is required ...