railway pro june

64
Railway PRO the railway business magazine Журнал железнодорожный бизнес Year VIII No. 2.6. (96) 2013 Increase of transport costs prevents economic development Croatia, on the road to railway reform Mandatory tender procedures for public service contracts Public transport is a major ingredient of the city life Interview with Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary General Общественный транспорт является существенной составляющей городской жизни Интервью с Генеральный секретарь МСОТ Алан Флауш Mass Transportation

Upload: railwaypro

Post on 14-Mar-2016

239 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Railway PRO Mass Transportation

TRANSCRIPT

Railway PROthe railway business magazine

Журнал железнодорожный бизнес

Year VIII ■ No. 2.6. (96) ■ 2013 Increase of transport costs prevents economic development

Croatia, on the road to railway reform

Mandatory tender procedures for public service contracts

Public transport is a major ingredient of the city lifeInterview with Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary GeneralОбщественный транспорт является существенной составляющей городской жизниИнтервью с Генеральный секретарь МСОТ Алан Флауш

Mass Transportation

1

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

1editor’s note

Является ли общественный транспорт финансово устойчивой деятельностью?

Недавно закончился 60-й Всемирный конгресс МСОТ, который состоялся в одной из финансовых столиц мира - Женева. Принимающий город располагает офисами многочисленных международных организаций, разработанных ООН, которые способны задействовать целый механизм общественного транспорта, призванного соединить периферию с центром, аэропортом и, не в последнюю очередь, с выставочным центром. Город Женева расположен на границе с Францией, и он сумел интегрировать ультрапериферийное французское пространство в швейцарскую агломерацию. Линии общественного транспорта соединяют 24 часа в сутки швейцарско-французское пространство, которое сумело повысить свой уровень жизни, привлекая многочисленных туристов (в целях ведения бизнеса или для развлечений) и квалифицированную рабочую силу, которые не зависят от наличия ультрацентральных жилых помещений. Жилые кварталы разбросаны в живописном районе. «Метрополитенный» общественный транспорт способствовал скорее всего развитию по горизонтали, нежели чем по вертикали.

И в таких условиях задается вопрос: не

естественно ли говорить о финансовой устойчивости общественного транспорта и об отношениях между государственными органами и транспортными операторами?

Годы затяжного кризиса начали откладывать свой отпечаток на бюджеты операторов общественного транспорта, особенно в развивающихся странах. Общественный транспорт часто рассматривается властями как неизбежное зло, и он впоследствии сталкивается с некоторым диким экономическим либерализмом, тем самым теряется из виду его роль инструмента для развития города или региона.

Обсуждение систем финансирования, наряду с обсуждением деятельности Центральной и Восточной Европы, подчеркнуло наличие опасности, угрожающей с одной стороны финансовому здоровью операторов, и с другой стороны праву людей на мобильность. Структуры, регулирующие деятельность рынков, позволяющие вести полу-пиратскую деятельность, наряду с сокращением выделения средств, необходимых для эксплуатации сетей, приводят к деградации парка транспортных средств и к необходимостью ограничить охват

обязательных общественных услуг. В этом контексте интересно

было отслеживать диалог крупных международных операторов с различными государственными органами (в том числе с европейскими) на тему открытия рынков общественного транспорта, либо через либерализацию, либо через конкурентоспособные тендеры. В этом отношении не хватает общего видения, несмотря на тот факт, что можно считать, что имеется некий лейтмотив, вращающийся вокруг идеи разработки гибких контрактов с видением будущего, позволяющих адаптироваться к динамике рынка, при этом гарантируя финансирование этой важной работы.

К сожалению, трудно разработать единый общепризнанный стандарт в отношении прямых расходов и доходов, и это приводит к дальнейшему углублению различий трещину между городами, ориентированными на развитие и на общественный транспорт (возможно, эти города богаче, но не всегда) и остальными городами, граждане которых оставлены на произвол колебаний движения и высокой стоимости перевозок на индивидуальном транспорте с двигателем.

The 60th edition of the UITP Congress, organised in one of the world’s

financial capitals, Geneva, has recently come to an end. A host city with many international organisations developed by the UNO which knows how to move a comprehensive public transport mechanism aimed to link the suburbs to the city centre, the airport and, last but not least, the exhibition centre. Located at the border with France, Geneva has known in time how to integrate the ultra-peripheral French space into the Swiss conurbation. Public transport vehicles link the Swiss-French area which could thus increase its living standards by attracting many tourists (for business or leisure) and specialized labour force which don’t depend on the existence of ultra-central residential areas, but scattered in a picturesque environment. It is a “metropolitan” public transport which permitted a horizontal development, rather than a vertical one.

So, it is obvious that such an environ-ment could not host but talks about public

transport sustainability and the relation between public authorities and transport operators.

The endless years of crisis have left marks in the budgets of public transport operators, especially in developing countries. Often seen as a necessary evil by the authorities, public transport is pushed into the arms of a sort of savage economic liberalism, underestimating its role of growth instrument in the city or region.

The discussions dedicated to financing systems, together with those on the activity in Central and Eastern Europe, have emphasized this risk which threatens on the one hand the financial health of operators and on the other hand the people’s mobility right. Regulation structures which permit semi-pirate activities and the cut of network exploitation funds lead to poorer fleets of vehicles and the obligation of limiting the area covered by mandatory public services.

In this context, it was interesting to follow the dialogue of the large

international operators with different public authorities (including European), on the opening of public transport markets, either through liberalisation or through competitive tenders.

It lacks a single vision and however, a leitmotiv can be seen gravitating around the idea of drafting flexible contracts with vision for the future that would permit adaptation to market dynamics, while guaranteeing the financing of this important activity.

Unfortunately, a standard universally accepted is difficult to draft as regards both costs and direct revenues which will continue to deepen the gap between pro-developed cities and pro-public transport cities (maybe, even richer, but not always) and other cities which will leave their citizens to face the traffic fluctuations and high costs imposed by motorised individual transport.

is public transport financially sustainable? Issue published with the support of

Romanian Railway Industry Association & Club Feroviar – The Railway Business Club

Журнал издаётся при поддержке Асоциации Железнодорожной Промышленности и

Club Feroviar – ЖД Клуб Деловых Людей

2

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Public transport is a major ingredientof the city lifeInterview with Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary GeneralОбщественный транспортявляется существеннойсоставляющей городскойжизниИнтервью с Генеральный секретарь МСОТ Алан Флауш

content2

Leaders

46

rail stations, as multifunctional urban hubs

MarKet deVeLoPMent

The criteria for the station or stations located on a high-speed network in a given city must consider the optimal requirements of city and citizens,

as well as those specific to the railway system.

Запуск железнодорожных проектов обеспечивает Сербии место среди государств Европейского союза

РАЗВИТИЕ РЫНКА

Критерии для размещения вокзала или вокзалов для высокоскоростных линий в городах должны учитывать оптимальные требования города и граждан,

а также специфические требования железнодорожной системы.

Railway PROthe railway business magazine

ISSN - 1841 - 4672

Publisher: Editura de Transport & Logistică S.R.L.30, Virgiliu Street, Sector 1 Bucharest, postal code: 010881Tel.:+4 021 224 43 85; +4 021 224 43 87 Mobile: +40 721 723 724Fax: +4 021 224 43 86 E-mail: [email protected]: www.railwaypro.com

Editors:Elena [email protected] Luică[email protected]

Production and photo editor:Petru Mureşan

Department of translations: Alina Vuţulicu

Paula BădescuGentil Traduceri SRL

Graphic design:Petru Mureşan

Layout and DTP:Petru Mureş[email protected]

Photo:Radu Drăgan

Marketing Manager:Cristina [email protected]

Advertising Enquiries:[email protected]. railwaypro.com/advertise

editor’s note

statistics

Is public transport financially sustainable?1

Railway Statistics58

PoLicies & strateGies

PoLicies & strateGies

26 ЛИДЕРЫ

Mandatory tender procedures for public service contracts

24

LeX

Intelligent technologies play major role in new connections and intermodality

51Products&technoLoGies

Four years after the launch of the UITP strategy on doubling the public transport market share by 2025, PTx2, results are visible, as more and more countries are trying to adapt their lifestyle, investments and policies to increasing and developing public transport. The 60th edition of the International UITP Congress (Geneva, 26- 30 May 2013), attracted more participants (+34%), from 78 countries. Четыре года спустя после запуска стратегии МСОТ об удвоении доли рынка общественного транспорта к 2025 году - PTx2, результаты не заставляют себя ждать. Всё больше государств пытаются адаптировать свой образ жизни, инвестиции и политики для роста и развития общественного транспорта.

Tehran Metro seeks financing sources55

Recent estimates show that the decision on free public transport services in Tallinn was the right thing to do

40

Trilateral negotiations with happy ending: agreement on a unified TEN-T network

20

Tirana plans to develop two tram lines54

Increase of transport costs prevents economic development

44

Russian high-speed projects encourage the rail industry to develop products

18

Rail stations, as multifunctional urban hubs46

Istanbul public transport is ready for the Olympic Games 2020

43

Individual electric transport cannot be a threat for rail urban transport

50

Integrated ticketing for smart cities52

MetroPoLitan

MarKet deVeLoPMent

Franchise or concession agreements reduce costs and improve productivity

30

Single railway transport is essential32

Croatia, the 28th member state of the European Union34

Croatia prepares to access European funds35

Croatia, on the road to railway reform36

Strategy on adaptation to climate change – another challenge in European policies

16

Progress with the Danube Strategy22

The main five barriers to the deployment of sustainable transport

48

Priority investments aim at modernising Corridor X38

Period for granting fi-nancing within the “Horizon 2020” is reduced by 100 days

47

Saudi Arabia has plans to build 9,900 km of railways60

Iran – Armenia railway to facilitate new trade opportunities in the region

56

FPC becomes member of the European system on rail passenger transport information services

57 MobiLity

Integration and coordina-tion of public transport policies53

The current situation of public transport is no longer an option

39

3

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

3content

РЕдакционнаЯ СтатьЯ

1 Является ли общественный транспорт финансово устойчивой деятельностью?

ПоЛитика и СтРатЕГиЯ

РаЗВитиЕ РЫнка

мЕтРоПоЛитан

ПоЛитика и СтРатЕГиЯ

СтатиСтикаСТАТИСТИКА62

РаЗВитиЕ РЫнка

ПРодуктоВ и тЕхноЛоГий

Закон

Франчайзинг или концессионное соглашение обусловливают сокращение затрат и оптимизацию производительности

30

Необходимо оказать содействие осуществлению единого железнодорожного транспорта

32

Хорватия - 28-е государство Европейского союза

34

Хорватия готовится к усвоению европейских фондов

35

Хорватия на пути железнодорожной реформы36

Стратегия адаптации к климатическим изменениям - другой вызов для европейской политики

16

Дунайская стратегия регистрирует прогресс22

Приоритетные инвестиции касаются модернизации Коридора Х

38

Срок предоставления финансирования в рамках стратегии «Горизонт 2020» сокращён на 100 дней

47

STOA : пять препятствий, стоящих на пути развития устойчивого транспорта

48

Увеличение транспортных расходов препятствует экономическому развитию

44

Своими проектами высокоскоростного движения Россия поощряет железнодорожную промышленность развивать новую продукцию

18

Вокзалы могут являться многофункциональными узлами города

46

Общественный транспорт в Стамбуле готов к проведению Олимпийских игр 2020 года

43

Индивидуальный электрический транспорт не может представлять собой угрозой для транспорта на рельсах

50

Интегрированный тикетинг для умных городов52

Саудовская Аравия планирует построить около 9,900 километров железнодорожных линий

60

Железнодорожное сообщение Иран - Армения будет создавать новые возможности для торговли в регионе

56

Компания ФПК (Россия) стала членом европейской системы информации, связанной с услугами пассажирских перевозок

57

Метро в Тегеране находится в поисках источников финансирования

55

Недавние оценки показывают, что Решение о предоставлении бесплатного общественного транспорта в Таллине оказалось правильным

40

Тирана планирует построить две трамвайные линии

54

Процедуры обязательного тендере на государственные контракты службы

24

Успешные трёхсторонние переговоры: соглашение по унифицированию сети TEN-T

20

Сохранение нынешнего положения общественного транспорта не является жизнеспособным вариантом

39

Умные технологии играют жизненно важную роль для новых методы сообщения и интермодальности

51

мЕтРоПоЛитан

мобиЛьноСть

5

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

new Government could cancel bdZ cargo sale

buLGaria: The Bulgarian Government could cancel the privatisation of the national freight division BDZ Cargo, as the launch of the process would endanger many jobs, announced the new Minister of Transport, Danail Papazov.However, the new Minister pointed out that no conclusive decision has been made yet, adding that the situation should be thoroughly analyzed.In November 2012, Bulgaria’s Privatiza-tion Agency launched a second privatiza-tion procedure for BDZ’s Freight Services, after the first one failed. At the end of April, the Agency announced another extension of the deadline for submit-ting binding offers for BDZ Cargo, the new deadline being set for 10 June. The decision of the agency was the results of demands from the companies selected to participate in the tender. The prior deadline, also an extension of the initial deadline, was 7 June. The short list for the privatisation of BDZ Cargo included Grup Feroviar Român, Bulgarian Cargo Express, Balkan Financial Services and Donau-Finanz Transport und Beteiligung.Vladimir Putin wants high-speed lines between Moscow and Kazan/AdlerRussia: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to work out projects to build high-speed railways to link Moscow to Kazan and Moscow to Adler.“It is necessary to plan everything in detail. A clear financial and organizational plan on the implementation of all of these projects should be formulated”, declared Vladimir Putin.The high-speed railway will help cut the travel time between Moscow and Kazan to three and a half hours from 11 and a half, Putin said. The travel time between Moscow and Adler will decrease to eight hours from around 24 hours. budapest- sarajevo direct connection, resumed

internationaL: An agreement reached by state secretary for foreign affairs and ex-ternal economic relations Péter Szijjártó in Sarajevo paves the way on re-establishing a direct passenger rail link between Buda-pest and Sarajevo. Direct service between the cities was halted last December. The exact moment of the beginning of services has not been revealed. hZ infrastruktura tenders the modernisation of Zagreb-dugo selo section

croatia: HZ Infrastruktura invited bids for a HRK 250 Million (EUR 33 Million) contract for reconstruction on the Zagreb-Dugo Selo rail track.The deadline for submission of bids is July 4. czech railways interested in PKP cargo on conditions

PoLand: Ceske Drahy Drahy will watch the privatization process of Poland’s rail cargo carrier PKP Cargo and will hinge

corridor that links Russia and Belarus with Latvia’s ports on the Baltic Sea. The modernisation of the corridor will increase its freight throughput capacity. Zs signs deal with rZd on rail projects

serbia: Railway company Zeleznice Srbije has signed a contract with RZD on the construction of railway infrastructure and delivery of trains. The contract will be financed out of the USD 800 Million credit (EUR 619 Million) that Russia granted to Serbia.As part of the con-tract, units of Russian Railways, RZD, and other Russian companies will act as contractors and Serbian companies as subcontractors. The loan agreement was signed in Moscow in January. The Serbian side will also contribute with funds for these projects whose total cost will amount to over USD 900 Million (EUR 695 Million). Kazakhstan to deliver locomotives in estonia

internationaL: Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and Estonian company AS Vopak E.O.S. Ltd. have signed the contract for the acquisition of 15 TE33A locomo-tives manufactured in Kazakhstan. The locomotives are manufactured by JSC Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty.Negotiations for this contract began in 2010 and in December 2011 KTZ delivered a TE33A locomotive to be tested for five months on the Estonian infrastructure.

5

participation in the IPO on financial and legal conditions.“We will analyze the transaction in terms of legal and financial conditions. We will meet with PKP and PKP Cargo repre-sentatives to find out about the terms and what share the owner will put up for sale”, declared Petr Zaluda, CEO Ceske Drahy.Asked if his company was interested in PKP Cargo’s IPO, Zaluda said he would need to consider but “it certainly wouldn’t make sense to take 1-2%”.

nib credits Ldz for rail investments

internationaL: The Nordic Invest-ment Bank (NIB) and Latvia’s state railway company Latvijas dzelzcels have signed a new loan totalling EUR 17 Million for the upgrade of a railway section in the coun-try’s east-west transport corridor.The loan will be granted on a period of 10 years. The company will use the loan to build a second track on the 52-kilometre Skriveri-Krustpils section of the east-west railway

authorities amend railway law

serbia: The Serbian Parliament has adopt-ed a new railway law that will enable com-petition in this sector and will complete the reorganisation of Zeleznice Srbije. Under the law, ZS will be divided into an infrastructure manager and a transport operator.At the same time, the law regulates the pro-cedures for purchasing railway routes from the infrastructure manager and gives the railway directorate wider authorities con-cerning the adoption of regulations on rail-way and intermodal transportation. Under the bill, the directorate will be in charge of

taking measures to prevent unfair competi-tion and discrimination, and will also handle appeals of applicants for train routes. The bill also envisages the adoption of a nation-al railway infrastructure program.

news

Сербия: Сербский парламент принял новых закон о железных дорогах, который будет способствовать развитию конкуренции в данном секторе и будет завершать реорганизацию компании Железнице Сърбие.

болгария: Правительство Болгарии может отказаться от приватизации грузового направления БДЖ Карго.

роССия: Президент России Владимир Путин призвал к разработке проектов по реализации высокоскоростных линий между Москвой и Казанью и между Москвой и Адлером.

В мире: Венгерские власти и власти

Боснии и Герцеговины договорились возобновить прямую связь Будапешт - Сараево.

ХорВатия: HZ Infrastruktura объявила тендер на заключение контракта на реконструкцию отсека Загреб-Дуго Село.

Польша: Компания Ceske Drahy будет отслеживать приватизацию железнодорожного оператора по грузовым перевозкам PKP Cargo и будет ставить условия для участия в IPO.

В мире: Северный инвестиционный банк и латвийская государственная железнодорожная компания Latvijas Dzelzcels пописали соглашение о кредитовании.

phot

o: w

ww

.pkp

.pl

phot

o: e

n.w

ikip

edia

.org

6

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

plan of expanding the fields of operation of the Port of Saaremaa, which enables to service cargo ships in the port that was initially built for cruise ships.AS Port of Tallinn commercial direction head Ahto Ader told the local press that the company is in negotiations over a contract with the first bigger client and expressed hope that cargo handling could be launched already in six months time. The Port could handle 100,000 tonnes of goods a year but won’t reach that level in just one season.Ader did not wish to reveal the potential key client’s name before the contract is concluded but said that it is a timber and wood processing company with very strong background that operates actively in Estonia and Finland and develops activities in Eastern Europe too.The state-owned Port of Tallinn that manages the Saaremaa port has wanted to handle also cargo in the port for years but so far environmentalists and locals had blocked the plan. Federal Passenger company ensures rail and ferry transport services to europe

russia: Federal Passenger Company, a subsidiary of RZD, has signed cooperation agreements with the two ferry compa-nies Finnlines Plc. and Tallink Silja from Finland.The cooperation agreement covers the organisation and development of joint international passenger, luggage and

idb to finance construction of turkmenistan-tajikistan-afghanistan railway

internationaL: The Islamic Develop-ment Bank will finance implementation of the Turkmenistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan railway project. The statement came from the bank’s president Ahmed Mohammed Ali, who took part in the 38th meeting of the IDB Board of Governors in Dushanbe.“This is a very important regional project. We are sympathetic to the implementation of such projects,” Ali said.According to the bank’s president, Turk-menistan has launched the construction of the railway on its territory. In the near future, the IDB managers will sit down at the negotiating table to discuss funding for construction of the railway on the ter-ritory of Tajikistan, Ali said.

third bosphorus bridge to have a railway line

turKey: The USD 4.5 Billion new bridge to be built over Istanbul’s Bosphorus will be named after Yavuz Sultan Selim, one of the prominent and notorious sultans in Ottoman history. The 59-meter-wide bridge – the widest in the world – will be the third one to connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. The tender was then awarded to a consortium consisting of the Turkish IC İçtaş and the Italian Ast-aldi that submitted the bid with the short-est term of construction and operation.The bridge is to be constructed under a build-operate-transfer model, in which private companies build the bridge and will have the right to collect tolls from vehicles using the bridge for a period of time before handing the bridge over to the state.

The consortium is expected to complete the construction of the bridge in 36 months, at a total cost of about USD 4.5 Billion, after the contract is signed. “The bridge should be ready for use by the end of 2015,” Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım had said earlier.

According to the Turkish Transport Min-istry, the new bridge, will be built to the north of the two existing ones, between the Garipçe district on the European side and the Poyrazköy district on the Asian side. Unlike the two existing bridges, which only carry road vehicles, the new bridge will also include rail tracks. The bridge will be 1.408 meters long and stretch over two levels. The upper level will have eight traffic lanes, four in each direction. A railway line will be on the lower level. The project will connect to the city’s new airport – one of the largest in the world – which is expected to be ready in 2016 and will serve 150 million passengers.

railways of Moldova increased cargo transportation volume by 26%

MoLdoVa: In the first four months of 2013, Railways of Moldova increased cargo transportation volume by 25.9% year-on-year.In this period, the cargo turnover of railway transport grew by 25.5% to 92.9 million tonne-kilometres.438,000 tonnes of grains (+62%) and 289,000 tonnes of ferrous metal (+15.6%) were carried. estonia could inaugurate new freight traffic port

internationaL: The Mustjala authori-ties approved the detailed development

6

Украина: Министерство инфраструктуры Украины планирует провести модернизацию железнодорожной инфраструктуры и запустить производство локомотивов для грузовых перевозок на заводе «Лугансктепловоз».

Сербия: Компания Zeleznice Srbije подписала контракт с РДЖ на строительство железнодорожной инфраструктуры и поставку поездов.

роССия: В соответствии с планом, разработанным Министерством

экономического развития России, правительство планирует продать 5% акций РЖД до конца 2014 года.

тУрция: Третий мост через Босфор стоит 4,5 млрд. евро, а консорциум-победитель будет осуществлять проект, который будет сдан в эксплуатацию в 2015 году.

В мире: Исламский банк развития (ИБР) будет финансировать реализацию проекта железной дороги Туркменистан - Таджикистан - Афганистан.

роССия: Компания «Аэроэкспресс»

подписала договор с Группой Stadler Rail на поставку двухэтажных поездов. Договорная стоимость составляет 685 млн. евро.

реСПУблика молдоВа: За первые четыре месяца 2013 года железные дороги Республики Молдова зарегистрировали увеличение объема перевозимых товаров на 25,9%.

В мире: Власти Мустьялы (западная Эстония) утвердили план развития на расширение областей деятельности порта Сааремаа.

news

authorities launch major projects for rail infrastructure and procurement of vehicles

uKraine: The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure plans to upgrade the railway infrastruc-ture and to launch the production of freight locomotives at the production facility Lugansk-Teplovoz next year.According to Minister Volodymyr Kozak, a large part of the fleet of electric locomotives needs replacing as it includes vehicles manufactured al-most 60 years ago.“There is no plant to produce electric locomotives in Ukraine. We have negotiated with the CEO of TransMashholding and the CEO of Luhansk-Teplovoz to organise the implementation of the construction project of these locomotives in Lu-gansk. If the decision is adopted, then the produc-tion will be initiated starting with the half of next year”, said the minister.Also as part of the modernization in 2013, the electrification of railway lines will amount to UAH 8.3 Billion (EUR 791 Million) for a total length of 493 km, while the modernization of railway lines will amount to UAH 986.6 Million (EUR 9.4 Million). Moreover, authorities plan to buy 5994 freight cars for a total of UAH 4.3 Billion (EUR 410 Million).

phot

o: h

ttp:

//en

.cum

huriy

et.c

om

phot

o: e

n.w

ikip

edia

.org

7

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

government, which now holds 100% in the company, will retain its control as a result.

customs authorities of Kazakhstan and china elaborate strategic plan for 2014-2018

internationaL: The customs authori-ties of Kazakhstan and China intend de-veloping a strategic plan of cooperation for the period of 2014-2018. The aim of the document consists in creating conditions for the development of legitimate trade.During a visit of the delegates of the Kazakh Customs Control Committee in China, the representatives of the two sides discussed about the methods for improv-ing the exchange of information on the total volume of export-import operations between Kazakhstan and China.In addition, an agreement was reached during the visit on the implementation of the project for the creation of a ‘green cor-ridor’ for agricultural products between the checkpoints of Bakhty (Kazakhstan) and Pokitu (PRC) starting October 2013.The parties also noted the successful start of operating the new railway border cross-ing at Altynkol-Horgos and expressed a willingness to further improve its infra-structure.“The meeting also coordinated a techno-logical scheme for the organisation and conducting of customs clearance and control of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Eu-

measures combined with pre-qualification criteria consisting in negotiation based on the preliminary and non-binding offers, followed by sealed bid for a stake of 51% in the social capital of the company.

ebrd finances belarus rolling stock production

beLarus: The EBRD is providing EUR 14.5 Million under a loan of up to 10 years to a joint venture formed by Switzerland’s family-owned Stadler and the Minsk Region Executive Committee (MREC) as a minority shareholder.The Belarus partner is contributing assets from the leading local manufacturer of trams and trolley-buses, Belkommunmash (BKM) whilst Stadler will bring private capital, as well the latest technologies and know-how for the production of trams, trolley-buses and passenger trains. 90 percent of its production will be exported outside Belarus in the CIS countries for urban, suburban and inter-regional markets.EBRD funds will be used to build a faci-lity for the construction of suburban and inter-regional passenger trains and trams near Minsk.

Government to sell first package of shares in rZd in 2014

russia: According to the plan elaborated by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the government plans to sell 5% of the shares of RZD by the end of 2014 and 20% by 2016. The plan also includes the sale of 11% of the shares of VTB in 2015.However, the general plan is not final, announced Olga Dergunova, director of the Federal State Property Management Agency.The agency said in March that the privatization of Russian Railways is planned for 2014–2016, and the

cargo transportation. The parties intend to create a package of services, including transporting passengers and their cars from Russia to Finland and then by sea to other European countries: Sweden, Poland, Germany, Latvia, Estonia. Passen-gers can simultaneously book and obtain a ticket for both the train and the ferry at ticket offices in Russia and to benefit from discounts.The new service will be launched in July 2013.

authorities plan to be a bridge between east and west

GeorGia: Georgia has a desire to become a bridge between the East and West, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said.“The Georgian government has a strong desire to play a bridging role and develop a transit corridor between Asia and Europe. This is in Georgia’s strategic interest.”Ivanishvili stressed three priorities, namely, improving a transit infrastructure, creating a free business environment and fruitful cooperation with neighboring countries.“Significant investments have been placed in the development of transport infrastructure,” he said. “Rail lines are being improved. A new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is under construction.”

two companies shortlisted in the next phase of cFr Marfă privatisation

roMania: After analysing the papers submitted in the sale of CFR Marfă, only two companies, Grup Feroviar Român and the consortium of Transferoviar Grup and Donau-Finanz GMBH were shortlisted in the next phase of the privatisation proce-dure. Potential buyers had the obligation to submit the bid containing the prelimi-nary and non-binding offers as well as the comments on the contract framework. Starting with 6 June 2013 the Privatisation Commission negotiated with every bidder included in the “short list” based on a schedule posted at the headquarters of the Romanian Ministry of Transport (MT).

Therefore, according to the Announce-ment, the Privatisation Commission of the Ministry of Transport will organise and hold clarification sessions with the poten-tial buyers that submitted complete docu-ments, the preliminary and non-binding offers and the comments on the sale-pur-chase contract respectively. To participate in the sealed bid, documents had to be submitted by 19 June at the latest. The privatisation of CFR MARFĂ takes place through a stake sale procedure through

construction of rail bridge between russia, china to start in 2013

internationaL: Construction of the first railway bridge between Russia and China will begin in the second half of 2013, Russia’s Far East authorities said in a statement.The 2.2-kilometer bridge over the Amur

River will link Chinese and Russian towns of Tongjiang and Nizhneleninskoye.The bridge will be used for iron ore deliveries to China.The bridge’s capacity is projected at 5.2 mil-lion tonnes at the first stage and at 20 million tonnes at the second stage.The timeline for the launch of the bridge was not provided.

В мире: Строительство первого железнодорожного моста между Россией и Китаем будет запущено во второй половине этого года

роССия: Федеральная пассажирская компания подписала соглашения о сотрудничестве с двумя паромными компаниями из Финляндии - Finnlines Plc. и Tallink Silja.

В мире: Казахстан Темир Жолы и эстонская компания AS Vopak EOS Ltd. подписан контракт на приобретение 15 локомотивов.

грУзия: Грузия выразила желание стать

связующей платформой для налаживания отношений между Востоком и Западом. Об этом объявила премьер-министр Грузии Бидзина Иванишвили.

рУмыния: Для приватизации ЧФР Марфа, все три компании - Груп Феровиар Ромын, Омнитракс и ассоциация Трансферовиар Груп и Donau-Finanz GMBH - участвуют во втором этапе процедуры закупки.

белорУССия: ЕБРР предоставит кредит в размере 14,5 млн. евро на срок до 10 лет совместному предприятию, созданному СП установленном Stadler и Минским облисполкомом.

news

phot

o: C

lub

Fero

viar

phot

o: v

isua

l.rzd

.ru

8

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

rope international rail transit route which will contribute to the development of container transport and transit potential in general”, the report said.

aeroexpress and stadler sign contract for delivery of double-deck trains

russia: Aeroexpress and the Swiss rail-way equipment manufacturer Stadler Rail Group have publicly signed a contract for the delivery of double-deck rolling stock in the Moscow City Administration.The contract, worth a total of EUR 685 million.“Collaboration with Stadler aims to solve one of the most essential problems faced by Aeroexpress today, which is an increase in carrying capacity. Aeroexpress passen-ger traffic is increasing from one year to the next by almost 20%, and introducing new double-deck trains is a logical solu-tion, allowing us to not only significantly enlarge our trains’ seating capacity, but also provide our passengers with even greater comfort during their journey. The new double-deck Stadler trains, which should arrive in Russia as early as 2015, corre-spond to the highest international stand-ards”, commented Alexey Krivoruchko, CEO of Aeroexpress.

The official signing of the contract between the companies is yet another important step towards realising this project after Ae-roexpress revealed the results of the tender, held in February 2012, for supplying 172 double-deck railcars. By May 2016, the victorious Stadler shall deliver 118 railcars to Russia, according to a basic contract (16 4-railcar and 9 6-railcar train sets). Later on, a total of 54 railcars will be supplied to Russia according to an option.

ebrd and rdiF recommend G20 leaders to encourage private infrastructure investments

internationaL: EBRD and the Russian Director Investment Fund (RDIF) co-hosted a round-table discussion on how to unlock private sector funding for the global infrastructure sector, helping to formulate recommendations for a meeting of G20 leaders later this year.Governments needed to attract private capital to fund their infrastructure invest-ments, a crucial element in fostering future economic growth.The panel had highlighted three main areas that would form the basis of recommenda-tions to the G20 Summit to be held in St Petersburg, Russia, on September 5-6.These centred around the need to reduce restrictions on capital flows, “crowding in” the private sector and making infra-structure investments more efficient and productive via the introduction of best practices, in particular ensuring predict-ability for investors.

european experience enables russia to avoid serious mistakes in the railway sector

russia: Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, says that analysing Europe’s experience of rail reform will help Russia to avoid serious mistakes. “I am confident that the European experi-ence is indicative, very valuable to us, and will help us to avoid serious mistakes. In this regard, we have to consider the process of structural reform at Russian Railways. Today we are in the final stage of the sector’s reform and continue to work towards achieving a common position on the optimum model for operating railway transport,” said Vladimir Yakunin.According to Yakunin, not only Russia is interested in the question of the economic feasibility and the construction of effective technological interaction between the infrastructure owner and carriers. Over the

past 15 years, more than 25 studies have been carried out which directly or indi-rectly address the desirability of separating railway infrastructure from transportation operations. In this regard, the results are indicative of the European study “Eco-nomic Effects of Vertical Separation in the Railway Sector”, which was commissioned by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies and pub-lished in 2012.“The authors found no positive relation-ship between such a separation and an increase in freight volumes, or in the share of rail transport on the wider transport market. They also concluded that com-petition does not have a direct impact on improving the efficiency of railways and should not be an end in itself ”, said Yakunin.

ukraine delivers cargo wagons to azerbaijan

internationaL: Azovmash, the Ukrain-ian largest producer of freight railcars, will supply 252 tank wagons to Azerbaijani company АzМеКо, says Khidayat Sultanov, Director General of AzMeKo, without informing on the cost of the contract.According to Russian agency Infoline-Analytics, the cost of a tank wagon is approximately USD 75,000, VAT excluded. Therefore, the cost of the contract can reach USD 19 Million.

spain interested in the tender for the modernisation of Gara de nord

roMania: During a meeting of Cristian Ghibu, State Secretary (Romania), and his Spanish counterpart Rafael Catala Polo, State Secretary for Infrastructure, the Spanish side has expressed interest to participate in the infrastructure projects of Romania.In this context, Rafael Catala Polo said they were interested to consolidate the institutional collaboration through know-how exchange, to deliver the Spanish ex-pertise in the railway area, while launching their intention to participate in the tender for the project on the modernisation of Gara de Nord.There have also been approached aspects related to transport investment projects that are of interest for the Spanish partners and new opportunities for developing the bilateral collaboration have been also presented.

8

В мире: Таможенные органы Республики Казахстан и Китая намереваются разработать стратегический план сотрудничества на период 2014-2018 гг.

В мире: ЕБРР и Российский фонд прямых инвестиций (РФПИ) обсудили пути разблокирования средств частного сектора, выделенных на инфраструктуру сектора в глобальном масштабе.

роССия: Президент РЖД Владимир Якунин заявил о том, что опыт Европы в сфере осуществления железнодорожной реформы позволит России избежать

серьезных ошибок.В мире: Крупнейший производитель

грузовых вагонов Украины “Азовмаш” поставит азербайджанской компании АzМеКо 252 вагона-цистерны.

СлоВения: ЕК утвердила 166 млн. евро из Фонда сплочения на модернизацию одной линии в Словении.

рУмыния: Государственный секретарь Испании Рафаэль Катала Поло объявил, что его страна заинтересована в участии в тендере на модернизацию Северного вокзала (Бухарест).

ec finances project in slovenia

sLoVenia: The European Commission has approved funds of EUR 166 Million of the Cohesion Fund for the modernisa-tion of a line in Slovenia. The project is estimated at EUR 330 Million and involves

the reconstruction, electrification and mo-dernisation of a 160km section of the line between Pragersko junction and Hodos border crossing with Hungary.Investments will increase the quality and competitiveness of railway freight trans-port, as well as the traffic speed.

news

phot

o: w

ww

.aer

oexp

ress

.ru

10

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

turkmenistan supports the construction of railways in afghanistan

internationaL: The President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov addressed the regional administration of the Lebap Velayat (region) with a number of instructions for the construction of the Atamyrat-Ymamnazar railway. In May 2011, an intergovernmental framework agreement was signed on the construction of the 85 km railway line Atamyrat-Ymamnazar (Turkmenistan) and the 38 km line between Akina and Andhoi in Afghanistan. The line could then then connect to Tajikistan via Shirkhan port of Kunduz province. According to Turkmen government the report, it is expected that construction will be carried out by the Ministry of Railway Transport. About a month ago, Afghanistan proposed the construction of a railway line in Afghanistan on the Imamnazar-Akina route to Turkey. The relevant negotiations were held in Ashgabat with participation of the authorized representatives of the two countries.

rail Garant and rusagrotrans will merge

russia: Rail Garant and Rusagrotrans have agreed on the basic terms of a merger agreement that will create Russia’s third largest freight rail operator, Kommersant reported. The deal is expected to be finalized this summer. The two companies will have 50% each in the new entity. The new company will control a total of 74,000 cars and could within two years attain an estimated EBITDA of RUB 30 Billion (EUR 700 Million) This would make it the third largest railway operator in the country.

commission plans to support development of ‘smarter cities’

internationaL: Under the European Commission’s leadership, a high-profile group of mayors and industry representatives has started to work towards making Europe’s cities ‘smarter’. Vice Presidents Kallas and Kroes and Commissioner Oettinger hosted the first High Level meeting of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) “Smart Cities and Communities”. The challenges that cities and communities face in the quest for sustainability and quality of life are increasingly significant. The EIP plans to support wide-scale deployment of innovative technologies in the areas of mobility management, energy generation, distribution and consumption, and information and communication technologies. For instance, road congestion costs Europe

about 1% of its GDP every year, and traffic jams are mostly located in urban areas. The deployment of ICT to better manage the flow of urban traffic or to facilitate the use of public transport would alleviate the problem. Another example is the construction sector, which has the highest energy consumption in the EU (about 40%), and is the main contributor to GHG emissions. Better ICT-enabled management could mean up to 15% savings in energy consumption and 15% peak load reductions, resulting in up to 20% CO2 reduction.

ukraine, serbia signed intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in rail transport

internationaL:The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a

10

council reaches agreement on rail interoperability

internationaL: The European Com-mission welcomes the progress achieved in the Transport Council today to enhance the quality and efficiency of Europe-wide rail services by removing remaining technical obstacles. Following the proposal of the Commission for the recast of the intero-perability directive, the Transport Council adopted a “general approach” on new rules which will introduce a single European authorisation for placing railway vehicles on the EU market, and will reinforce the cen-tral role of the European Railway Agency. The Commission’s proposal for the recast of the interoperability directive is part of the Fourth Railway Package adopted by the Commission in January 2013. The Council introduced some changes in the proposal, such us the concept of ‘area of use’ of a vehicle, a longer transitional period and the possibility for national safety authori-ties to issue authorisations for vehicles

operating in one Member State only. Vice-President Kallas emphasized the impor-tance of a shorter transitional period, as the provisions are urgently needed to boost competitiveness and promote modal shift towards rail transport. He also underlined that deviations from the concept of a single EU-wide vehicle authorisation must be limited in time.

В мире: В результате предложения Комиссии по пересмотру Директивы о взаимной совместимости, Транспортный совет принял “общий подход” к новым нормам, согласно которым будет введено единое европейское разрешение на введение железнодорожных транспортных средств на рынок ЕС и будет укреплена центральная роль Европейского железнодорожного агентства.

В мире: Президент Туркменистана Гурбангулы Бердымухамедов призвал местную администрацию региона Лебап Велаят начать строительство железнодорожной линии Атамурат-Имамназар. Линия может затем быть продолжена в сторону Таджикистана, через порт Ширхан, который находится в провинции Кундуз.

В мире: Под руководством Европейской комиссии, группа высокопоставленных лиц, состоящая из европейских мэров и

представителей транспортной индустрии, инициировала проект, направленный на преобразование европейских городов в «умные города».

В мире: Кабинет Министров Украины 4 июня принял постановление о подписании соглашения между украинским правительством и сербским правительством о сотрудничестве в области железнодорожного транспорта.

В мире: Турция готова присоединиться к железнодорожному коридору Иран-Туркменистан-Казахстан. Об этом заявил президент Турции Абдулла Гюль во время совего недавнего визита в Туркменистан.

В мире: Железнодорожная линия Инчебурун-Горган была официально инаугурирована. Железнодорожный коридор длиной 88 км, соединяет город Горган, расположенный на северо-западе Ирана и Инчебурун, расположенный в Туркменистане.

resolution on signing an agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Serbian government on cooperation in the field of rail transport. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Kozak said that the implementation of the provisions of the proposed agreement would help improve the legal and contractual framework of Ukrainian-Serbian cooperation in the field of rail transport between the two countries, the press service of the Infrastructure Ministry reported. The agreement will help attract additional cargo in order to more fully use the potential of transport infrastructure of both countries. “In addition, the signing of the agreement will help improve cargo transportation between Ukraine and Serbia and therefore raise the safety standards of rail traffic between the two countries,” reads the statement.

news

phot

o: S

BB.c

h

11

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

inceburun-Gorgan rail project officialy inaugurated

internationaL: Inceburun-Gorgan rail project was officially inaugurated recently. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Ali Nikzad attended the inauguration ceremony. The 88-kilometers long rail project connects the north western Iranian city of Gorgan with Incheboroon in Turkmenistan. The railway has the capacity to annually transfer 10 million tons of goods and 4 million passengers. By inauguration of the project, a rail corridor connecting the Persian Gulf to Central Asia was created. Iran now has access to Russia, Commenwealth of Independant States, and China. The project implementation also opened access for European and Asian countries to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

new agreement for rail baltica project

internationaL: Meeting in the Latvian town of Jurmala, the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed to set up a draft proposal by the end of July on the creation of a joint legal entity to oversee the Rail Baltica project. The Baltic countries should prepare an application to secure European Union funding. The three Baltic States will each have to commit to paying up to EUR 5.3 Million.

eurotunnel to support transport projects

internationaL: Eurotunnel has unveiled a new system of financial support for railway operators launching new intermodal rail freight services through the Channel Tunnel. ETICA - Eurotunnel Incentive for Capacity Additions - will provide a one-off financial support for start-up investments, for one year. The ETICA mechanism, which will be fully funded by Eurotunnel, with no public subsidy, is based on the Marco Polo aid system and conforms to European directives.

Moldovan Minister of transport emphasizes the development of intermodal corridors

MoLdoVa: “The Republic of Moldova is located at the border of the European Union with the Community of Independent States and this geographic position generates important activities for both freight and passenger traffic. The railway transport in Moldova also favours the development of connections with the member states of the European Union, with the region of the Caucasus and

11news

Federal parliament: legislation passed on funding private rail infrastructure

internationaL: The German Pro-Rail Alliance has welcomed legislation on fund-ing the infrastructure of the railways that are not owned by the state (NE-railways). “It is important that the state is taking on some overall responsibility for the privately owned railways,” said Dirk Flege, managing director of the Pro-Rail Alliance, on Friday in Berlin. “Just the Hafenbahn infrastructure in the port of Hamburg alone, which is not

owned by the German state, is the starting point or the destination for around 12 per-cent of all the rail freight tonnage that is transported within Germany. Large sections of the German railway network that are not operated by the state owned Deutsche Bahn are enormously important for the long-dis-tance transport of goods in Germany”. The aim of the legislation is, above all, to create additional capacity on the railways to cope with the increasing amount of long-distance freight transport. This year, the federal go-vernment will initially be making 25 million euros available.

В мире: Allianz-pro-Schiene высоко ценит законодательство о финансировании железнодорожной инфраструктуры, не принадлежащей государству. Закон был принят федеральным парламентом Германии.

роССия: Rail Garant и Русагротранс достигли соглашения по основным условиям соглашения о создании новой компании по перевозке грузов железнодорожным путем слияния, указывает “Коммерсант”.

Окончательное соглашение будет заключено летом этого года. компанией «PKP Cargo».

В мире: На встрече в Юрмале, Латвия, премьер-министры Эстонии, Латвии и Литвы договорились разработать проект предложения в конце июля о создании компании для контроля осуществления проекта Rail Baltica.

В мире: Компания Eurotunnel объявила о новой программе финансирования для железнодорожных операторов, которые хотят предоставлять новые услуги грузовых железнодорожных перевозок через Ла-Манш.

реСПУблика молдоВа: “В ближайшее время Министерство транспорта будет сосредоточиваться на развитии интермодальных перевозок и на полноценном использовании потенциала железнодорожных грузоперевозок, а также на привлечении инвестиций для модернизации подвижного состава,” заявил министр транспорта Василий Ботнарь в рамках Железнодорожного саммита в Молдове - «Железнодорожное сообщение между Европой и Азией», организованного Молдавскими железными дорогами и Клуб Феровиар в период с 6 по 7 июня 2013 года в Кишиневе.

Eastern Europe”, declared Vasile Botnari, the Minister of Transport in the Republic of Moldova during the Moldovan Railway Summit. The event was held in Chişinău on 6-7 June and is organised by Moldovan Railways and Club Feroviar under the aegis of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Moldova.“In the coming period, the Ministry of Transport will focus on the development of intermodal transport and the full exploitation of rail freight transport potential, as well as on the attraction of investments in the modernisation of rolling stock. We will also initiate the introduction of public polls to have an insight view on providing a quality railway transport. The Ministry of Transport will support railway modernisation projects”, added Minister Vasile Botnari. “We will try to attract foreign funds for the modernisation of railway infrastructure and we will support the development of intermodal corridors for the facilitation of container transit”, concluded Vasile Botnari.

turkey is ready to join iran-turkmenistan-Kazakhstan transport corridor

internationaL: Turkey is ready to join the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan

transport corridor, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said during a state visit to Turkmenistan. “Joining the North-South transport corridor is important for us,” Gül said. “Turkmenistan holds a prominent place among the fastest growing countries, by making a significant contribution to the world development. A Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway section has been recently opened.” A project on connecting the railways on the Kazakh-Turkmen border was launched this month. In general, two neighboring countries are implementing the “North-South” project together with Iran. A trilateral inter-state agreement was signed in 2007. The Iranian and Turkmen railway networks are expected to be connected by late 2013.

phot

o: a

zern

ews.a

z

12

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

and Parliament covers issues such as the binding deadline of 2030 for the completion of the core network and an aspirational deadline of 2050 for the comprehensive network and the concept of corridors as an instrument for the implementation of the core network, stressing, in particular, the multi-modal character of the corridors, with special emphasis on Motorways of the Seas, and the priority to be given to crossborder sections; moreover, coordination between the core network corridors and the existing rail freight corridors needs to be ensured, and a Corridor Forum will be established as a consultative body.

eib provides new loan for ankara-istanbul project

internationaL: The European Investment Bank is providing EUR 200 Million to the Turkish State Railways for the high-speed line Ankara-Istanbul. This additional funding brings total EIB support for this high speed railway line to some EUR 1.5 Billion. The project was first financed by the EIB in 2006. The total value of EIB financing for the Turkish rail system in the last five years comes to some EUR 2.5 Billion. The project constitutes a key element of the Government’s plans to increase the share of rail transport by improving the productivity and effectiveness of railway operations. The European Union is also providing a grant of EUR 120 Million to the HSL project through its Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) funds.

This is one of the most important cargo transport lines for Russia as it ensures connections to the east of Siberia and Far East. The 4,324km long line crosses the north part on a distance of 770 km and is parallel to the Trans-Siberian.

council and european Parliament reach agreement on guidelines for the development of ten-t

internationaL: The member states’ Permanent Representatives, on June 12, endorsed the compromise reached between the Council and the European Parliament in their negotiations on new guidelines defining a long-term strategy for the development of a complete trans-European transport network (TEN-T), consisting of infrastructure for railways, maritime and air transport, roads and inland waterways. The agreed text stills needs to be formally approved by the Parliament, whose vote in plenary is expected to take place in the months ahead, and by the Council, which is due to take its decision after the vote in Parliament. The compromise resulting from the negotiations between Council

utLc activity launched in 2013

internationaL: The logistics company of the Common Economic Space (CES), United Transport and Logistics Company (UTLC or OTLK) of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus should be launched in 2013, said Salman Babayev, RZD’s Vice President for Commerce. An active work is now underway to develop single rules of transportation on the territory of the three countries. The model of UTLC’ functioning is practically developed. “The main objective of creating the common transport and logistics company in the CES is to develop the transport corridor from Asia to Europe via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus. Joining efforts to extend container transportation will produce a serious effect for the three states,” emphasized Babayev.

new important investments in baikal-amur line

russia: Russian Railways will invest RUB 302 Billion (EUR 7.5 Billion) in the development of Baikal-Amur line. “RUB 562 Billion (around EUR 14 Billion) are necessary of which RZD will allocate RUB 302 Billion and the remainder will be covered through a public-private partnership”, declared Anatoly Kuzhel, the Head of the Traffic Control Department of RZD’s Central Directorate for Traffic Control.

1212

restructuring of Moldovan railways included in governing programme

MoLdoVa: “The governing programme stipulates the implementation of measures for the restructuring of the railway company, Moldovan Railways. Starting with 2012, the company has optimised the cooperation and interaction with European institutions and Eastern institutions. The activity departments for three segments have already been established: infrastructure, freight transport and passenger transport and currently we are working to avoid mixed costs, in order to ensure the independence of each sector”, declared Vitalie Struna, General Manager of Moldovan Railways, during the Moldovan Railway Summit. At international level, Moldovan Railways develop important

projects aimed to develop railway freight transport. “An important project is Zubr, the container transport service which ensures connection between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, with the participation of Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia. The travel time will be significantly reduced due to the facilitation of customs procedures. Also, in the first half of the year we launched the transport from China through Giurgiuleşti Port and at the end of 2012 we launched another project through which the Republic of Moldova, together with Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan organised a container train on Corridor XII. As benefits I can say that, compared to maritime transport, the train has reached destination two weeks earlier, the cost of the transport being 12% smaller compared to maritime transport”, declared Struna.

реСПУблика молдоВа: “В первой половине этого года мы запустили перевозки из Китая через порт Джурджулешть, а в конце 2012 года мы запустили еще один проект, по которому Молдавские железные дороги, совместно с Россией, Украиной и Казахстаном организовали контейнерный поезд по коридору XII.” - заявил генеральный директор железнодорожной компании Молдовы Виталий Струнэ по случаю саммита в Кишиневе.

роССия: ОАО «РЖД» вложит 302 млрд. рублей (7,5 млрд. евро) в развитие Байкал-Амурской магистрали. “”Потребность в инвестициях составляет 562 млрд. рублей, из них 302 млрд. рублей будет вложено непосредственно

ОАО «РЖД». “, сообщил начальник управления движения Центральной дирекции управления движением РЖД Анатолий Кужель.

В мире: В 2013 году может основаться логистическая компания Единого экономического пространства (ЕЭП) - Объединенная транспортно-логистическая компания (ОТЛК), в составе которой будут Россия, Казахстан и Белоруссия. Об этом объявил вице-президент РЖД по коммерческой деятельности, Салман Бабаев.

В мире: Европейский инвестиционный банк предоставляет 200 млн. евро для Турецких государственных железных дорог для высокоскоростных линии Анкара-Стамбул.

news

phot

o: w

ikim

edia

.org

phot

o: T

CDD

14

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

the tendering procedure expired, the city confirmed. Authorities said it was was too early to reveal details of the offer. The slack interest comes as a disappointment after Skopje mayor Koce Trajanovski last year said companies from France, Poland, Croatia, Germany and the Czech Republic had shown interest. After several delays, the city issued the tram tender last December, envisaging the project as a private-public partnership. Should a concessionary firm be chosen, it will operate the system for 35 years and will have to build 24 kilometres of line running in two directions and obtain at least 22 trams. It is estimated that the cost will be some EUR 240 Million. According to projections, the government and city will finance half of the sum needed for the trams, as estimates have shown that the project

belarus to take part in Moscow Metro development project russia: Specialists from Belarus will participate in the projects for the development of Moscow Metro network, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Igor Petrishenko declared. “Construction companies from Belarus are known in Moscow and are currently performing subcontracting and general contracting works in the Russian capital”, he said.In Q1 2013, Minsk Metro Company, Minskmetrostroi and Mosmetrograzhdanproyekt, completed the legal procedure of creation and registration of a joint company.Today the Russian capital is implementing a large-scale program on metro service development. The length of the metro lines is expected to increase 1.5 times, with about 70 new stations appearing within the next five years.

arad launches tender for the procurement of new trams

roMania: EBRD has invited bidders to participate in the tender for the procurement of new trams for the City of Arad. The contract involves the design, manufacturing, delivery, commissioning and maintenance of 6 new trams. The City of Arad reserves the right to increase the number of trams by other 2 or 3 units, on condition that EBRD would approve on

additional financing. The tender will be carried out in two stages. The first stage consists in the evaluation of technical offers. The bidders that will qualify in the first stage will be invited to submit a technical offer amended according to the customer’s requirements and a commercial offer in the second stage tender. The cost of the trams will be covered through an EBRD loan contracted within the “Arad Urban Transport Phase 3” project. norwegians bid to build Macedonian tramway

Macedonia: Only one firm, a Norwegian consortium led by P.J Skurdal, has tendered an offer for the Skopje tram network when

1414

uitP Geneva 2013: debate session for central and eastern europe

internationaL: “Central and East-European countries benefit from special expertise in public transport and it will be a shame to lose it in favour of individual motorised transport, a mistake which Western countries also made in the 1960s”, declared in Geneva Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary General during the special session dedicated to Central and East-European countries at the 60th edition of the UITP Congress. The session “Efficient and innovative public transport in Central and Eastern Europe” was moderated by Gradimir Stefanovic, transport consultant of Belgrade Municipality and co-founder of the Light Rail Committee of UITP, and the main discussion topics focused on identifying solutions to cut transport costs in public transport to enable improved organisation of the system, followed by an increasing number of passengers. The speakers of this first edition of a regional session dedicated to Central and Eastern Europe were Bojan Bovan, Secretary of Trans-port, Belgrade Municipality, Jerzy Lejk, President of the Board, Warsaw Metro and Dávid Vitézy, CEO of BKK, Budapest Public Transport Operator. Romania had two representatives: István Csuzi, CEO, Oradea Local Transport Operator, and Ștefan Roșeanu, CEO of AMM (Association for Metropolitan Mobility), a recent member of UITP. To improve public transport in the capital of Hungary, BKK organises a tender for the acquisition of 37 low-floor trams and another tender for 25 trolleybuses for which they have managed to get a remarkable 99% in financing of EU funds. At the same time, BKK will also imple-ment a new ticketing system with the help of an EBRD loan. Warsaw Metro, which carries a daily 1 million passengers a day, has also plans to expand the network, works for the Line 2 of the metro being underway also with European co-financing. István Csuzi reviewed the investments Oradea made in tram transport starting with 2000, including the rehabilitation of infrastructure and the acquisition of new low-floor trams. 35% of OTL’s bus fleet also includes low-floor vehicles. The number of passengers using public transport has increased by 10% in the past years. The company wants to continue the modernisation of vehicles for reducing costs by implementing energy-efficiency measures and will try to access European financing. Bojan Bovan pointed out the main public transport investments in Belgrade and the modernisation of the fleet of vehicles. The capital of Serbia has new trams and trolleybuses and has recently finalized the acquisition of new 200 buses. A joint Turkish-Serbian company will implement a new ticketing and fleet management system.Ștefan Roșeanu shaped the evolution of public transport in Romania, stressing the fact that the new challenge is the organisation of transport systems in the recently esta-blished metropolitan areas and around Bucharest, but also the transformation of the independent transport administrations into trading companies and the conclusion of public service obligations. In conclusion, Gradimir Stefanovic pointed out that Central and Eastern countries have to continue to seek solutions to improve cost efficiency in public transport, to imple-ment modern ticketing solutions, to try to prioritize public transport in the authorities’ activities and to be united to optimise the use of European funds.

В мире: Страны Центральной и Восточной Европы по-прежнему пользуются особыми преимуществами в сфере общественного транспорта, которые было бы жаль потерять в пользу индивидуального транспорта на автомобиле.

роССия: Белорусские специалисты будут участвовать в проектах развития сети московского метрополитена.

рУмыния: ЕБРР объявил тендер на закупку трамваев для города Арада.

азербайджан: Для строительства сети метро, власти Азербайджана рассмотрели три города: Сумгаит, Нахчывань и Гянджа.

В мире: Одна компания - норвежский консорциум во главе с PJ Skurdal - проявила заинтересованность в строительстве трамвайных приспособлений в столице бывшей югославской республики Македония.

роССия: В августе месяце в Москве будет объявлен тендер на поставку 3500 вагонов метро.

В мире: Под руководством Европейской комиссии, группа высокопоставленных лиц, состоящая из европейских мэров и представителей промышленности, инициировала проект, направленный на преобразование европейских городов в «умные города».

news

phot

o: w

ww

.uitp

gene

va20

13.o

rg

15

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

would be hard to complete without state subsidies.

authorities want to build metro networks in other cities too

aZerbaiJan: The Azerbaijani authorities have considered three cities where the metro will be built: Sumgait, Nakhchivan and Ganja, shows Baku metro company in a press release. “Metro construction holds perspective future in Azerbaijan. We plan to take the necessary measure for the use of metro by the citizens of suburban settlements in Baku, Sumgait, as well as in Nakhchivan and Ganja”, said the managing director of the company Tagi Ahmedov. At the moment, Baku Metro develops projects under the development strategy until 2020. According to Ahmedov, it is planned to commission 2 stations in 2014 and 6 more in 2016 within the programme. The metro system development strategy envisages the construction of a 119km network from the current 34.6km network.

Moscow: tender for metro trains to start soon

russia: Moscow Municipality will initiate in August the international tender for the modernisation of the underground network. The order, which stipulates the delivery of rolling stock starting with

istanbul tenders metro train contract

turKey: Metropolitan Municipality’s Rail Systems Directorate invites bids from individual companies for a fleet of 21 six-car trains for operation on the new Line M6.The driverless trains, which must be in service by 2015, will have wide inter-car gangways. There must be a minimum of 15% Turkish content apart from the first two trains.The 20km Line M6, which will be en-

tirely underground, is being built from Üsküdar, where it will connect with the Marmaray rail link under the Bosporus, via Ümraniye to Çekmeköy and will have 16 stations.

2015, is estimated at around EUR 5 Billion for around 3,500 metro cars. The contract will expand on 30 years and will include the rolling stock maintenance.The acquisition will be conducted through a public-private partnership and the winner of the contract will have the task to manage and finance the project. The municipality will have to allocate money for the new cars and for the maintenance on a regular basis. commission plans to support development of ‘smarter cities’

internationaL: Under the European Commission’s leadership, a high-profile group of mayors and industry representatives has started to work towards making Europe’s cities ‘smarter’.

1515news

тУрция: Управление Железными дорогами муниципалитета города Стамбула объявило тендер на поставку 21 поездов метро.

Today, Vice Presidents Kallas and Kroes and Commissioner Oettinger hosted the first High Level meeting of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) “Smart Cities and Communities”. The challenges that cities and communities face in the quest for sustainability and quality of life are increasingly significant. The EIP plans to support wide-scale deployment of innovative technologies in the areas of mobility management, energy generation, distribution and consumption, and information and communication technologies.

phot

o: e

n.w

ikip

edia

.org

16

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

The third objective relies on the more conscious decision-making, by approach-ing knowledge gaps on adaptation and by further developing the European platform on climate change (Climate-ADAPT) as one-stop shop for information on adapta-tion in Europe.

co-financing of transport projects increased by over 10% for actions concerning climate resilience

In this context, the infrastructure for all the 4 transport modes (railway, road, mari-time and air) is subject to climate pressure and to an adequate adaptation policy. The consequences of climate change are posi-tive and negative effects on the transport infrastructure, but they will be different from one region to another. Most of all, the estimates on the increase of frequency and the extreme intensification of mete-

strategy on adaptation to climate change – another challenge in european policies

In April 2013, the European Commission presented a set of measures on adaptation to climate change; first of all, the EU strategy on adaptation to climate change sets a framework and mechanisms for the EU preparation on the present and future climate impact; the Commission also coordinated the Green Paper for preparing Europe to tackle natural or human-inflicted disasters.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

the general objective of the strategy is to efficiently contribute to creating a stronger Europe in the fight against

climate change paying special attention to cross-border issues and sectors tightly in-tegrated in the EU through joint policies. Therefore, it is necessary to consolidate and to train the capacity of answering to the impact of climate change at local, regional, national and European level by developing a coherent approach and by optimizing the coordination of actions. To that end, one of the greatest challenges is adapting cost-efficient measures to different planning and management levels.

“Cutting the world’s greenhouse gas emis-sions must remain our top priority in order to keep global warming below 2°C and avert dangerous climate change. But the adverse impacts of the changing climate are increas-ingly evident today in Europe. Adapting to these changes is one of the most fundamen-tal challenges for territorial development in Europe. Our strategy will help decision-makers in Europe to choose the best solu-tions to the benefit of their citizens. This will stimulate growth and jobs and prevent potentially high human, economic and en-vironmental costs later on”, declared Con-nie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action.

Also, the revision of the EU strategy on

adaptation is scheduled by 2018 in order to evaluate if additional measures are neces-sary to meet the objectives of the strategy.

The strategy focuses on three main objec-tives, the first being to promote the adop-tion of measures by member states. “The Commission will encourage all member states to adopt comprehensive adaptation strategies (currently, only 15 countries have such strategies) and will grant financing for the consolidation of capacities to adapta-tion and implementation of actions”, EC informs.

The second objective consists in measures aimed at creating a protective wall against climate change in the EU by further promot-ing the adaptation to key vulnerable sectors, such as agriculture, fishing and the cohe-sion policy by guaranteeing the fact that the European infrastructure becomes stronger and by promoting insurance against natural and human-inflicted disasters.

Source: GRaBS (Green and Blue Space Adaptation for Urban Areas and Eco Towns), „Adapting Transport Systems to Climate Change”, By Giuseppe Inturri and Matteo Ignaccolo

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

Successful adaptation for rail infrastructure is likely to include:• improvements in flood defences along some lengths of coastline and selected reaches

of rivers• restrictions on development in areas prone to flooding• use of more durable materials such as more corrosion-resistant metals• an increase in the stability of pylons and other structures prone to wind loading;• better drainage systems• planting low-maintenance vegetation to act asbuffer zones for high winds.

Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu

Absolute change of GHG emission Transport contribution to emmisions

orological phenomena with a negative impact over the transport infrastructure cause damages, perturbations, delays and economic losses. However, in time there are also positive consequences for transport, such as less snow in Europe.

EU commits to integrate the adaptation to climate change to the different policies and financial instruments including the transport policy, the Connecting Europe Facility or the cohesion policy.

The transport sector meets vital economic and social functions and depends of the situation of the environment. Investments in transport infrastructure help increase the life expectancy of the in-frastructure and their value in the economy, and the preparation and capacity of adaptation to the future impact of climate change are critical elements.

The proposal for the new TEN-T guidelines includes the resi-lience to climate change, especially Article 41: in planning the in-frastructure, special importance must be paid to evaluating risks and measures to adapt that optimise the resilience to climate change. Moreover, the resilience of the infrastructure against natu-ral or human-inflicted disasters has to be considered if necessary.

The TEN-T project, co-financed through the Connecting Europe Facility, will promote the transition to a transport infrastructure that resists to climate change and disasters. “All transport modes are eligible for funding. Co-financing rates may be increased by up to 10% for actions enhancing climate resilience”, shows the Com-mission’s Working Document “Adapting infrastructure to climate change” (April 2013).

The next step for adapting the TEN-T network to climate change should supply the foundation for the worldwide implementation of new technologies and innovations which, for example, can en-hance the global efficiency of the European transport sector and reduce the carbon footprint. This will have a contribution in the implementation of the “Europe 2020” Strategy and the White Pa-per on Transport on cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 and will increase the safety of fuelling in the EU.

Стратегия адаптации к климатическим изменениям - другой вызов для европейской политики

Главная цель стратегии адаптации к изменению климата заключается в эффективном содействии осуществлению такой Европы, которая была бы устойчивой к изменению климата, с особым сосредоточением на трансграничных вопросах и секторах, тесно интегрированных на уровне ЕС за счёт общей политики. Таким образом, необходимо укрепить и подготовить способность реагировать на воздействия изменения климата на местном, региональном, национальном и европейском уровне, путем разработки согласованных и оптимально скоординированных действий. В этой связи, одной из самых крупных проблем является адаптация затрат на различных уровнях планирования и управления.

www.db-international.de

DB International: The best choice for mobility and transport solutions

Absolute change of GHG emission

Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu

18

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Своими проектами высокоскоростного движения Россия поощряет железнодорожную промышленность развивать новую продукцию

К 2030 году ожидается осуществление проектов расширения высокоскоростной сети на 12000 км. Для этого потребуются инвестиции на сумму 200 миллиардов долларов. Оценки показывают, что распределение инвестиций приведет к увеличению пассажиропотоков на 30% (внутренние перевозки) и на 37% на международных маршрутах и к значительному снижению давления на передвижение по существующим транспортным коридорам.

russia has plans to expand its high-speed network by 12,000 km by 2030 and these plans require in-

vestments worth USD 200 Billion. Accord-ing to the company’s web site, estimates show that the allocation of investments will increase passenger traffic by over 30% in the country and by 37% on international routes, and will significantly reduce traffic on the existing transport corridors.

“Modern rail traffic is impossible without high-speed services. By 2025, the length of the high-speed network will be of 40,000 km. Consequently, it is necessary to keep in mind that every rouble invested by the government in the development of high-speed lines has a return of 3 roubles”, declared Alexander Misharin, First Vice President of RZD.

Currently, Russia is already developing projects for high-speed services between St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg, for the construction of a line dedicated to high-speed trains, with costs being estimated at USD 35 Billion. Also, there are fast trains between St Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, but they use the existing line,

also used for freight traffic, which reduced the speed of passenger trains. High-speed trains are also operated on the line St Pe-tersburg-Helsinki.

Recently, Russian Railways has an-nounced that “the development of high-speed lines is set as priority”, according to Misharin. He also said that a separate high-speed railway would be built to connect Moscow to St. Petersburg, and later on, similar projects would be implemented on the East-West axis, the strategic direction being Moscow. The high-speed railways will link the largest cities in European Rus-sia and Siberia and “talks are today held on rail high-speed projects between Vladivos-tok and Khabarovsk”, added Misharin.

In April, during one of his visits to the production units of Evraz, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Rus-sian Government favoured the construc-tion of high-speed railways. Evraz also an-nounced that starting with 2014 it would begin delivering the 100-m rails to RZD, the manufacturer being, in fact, the first domestic company that would begin to manufacture these special, long rails for

high-speed (previously, RZD bought these special 100-m long rails from Nippon Steel – Japan). “No matter what they say, the de-velopment of high-speed railways is ahead of us and it depends on these rails”, de-clared Medvedev. Evraz could also sell the new type of rails on the foreign markets, being interested to export them to Austria and Germany. The Direct Investment fund and RZD are currently studying how to make high-speed projects profitable and to attract private investors, declared the di-rector of the Fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

russian high-speed projects encourage the rail industry to develop products

The fact that railway high-speed is a “must-have” of the modern society and one of the main transport and economic development engines is a benefit acknowledged by the authorities of each country whether they have high-speed infrastructures or not. For Russia, the awareness on the contribution of these projects to the country’s development is visible and the authorities encourage investments and launch high-speed projects.

Source: http://www.eng.hsrail.ru

Network with a fast future

St. Petersburg - Moscow

[ by Pamela Luică ]

MarKet deVeLoPMent

ELECTROPUTERE VFU SA member of GRAMPET GROUP

Calea Bucureşti, 80, C9, etaj 3, Craiova 200440, RomâniaTel.: +40740900549

Tel./fax: +40251/439053E-mail: o�[email protected]

Tradition and Innovation

ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007Autorizatie de Furnizor Feroviar AFER seria AF nr. 5708

20

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

the core transport network are implement-ed as a priority. It sets standards to ensure that trains, ships, planes, trucks and cars can use the transport infrastructure safely and without any technical problem. The core network is to be completed by 2030.

For instance, by 2030 the core railway net-work will be equipped with the European ERTMS signalling system, allowing for easy and safe cross-border train operations. The new policy focuses on the most important elements: cross-border projects, interoper-ability and intermodality between different transport modes. The European coordina-tors will support the member states and the project promoters so as to obtain the best possible return of investments.

An important provision included in the new TEN-T guidelines stipulates that the operators of freight terminals should make sure that all cargo terminals are open to all transport operators while the operators of logistics platforms provide at least one open terminal to all railway freight trans-port operators.

The operators of cargo terminals and those of logistics platforms will have to pro-vide this type of access without discrimina-tion and with transparent tariffs.

the agreement sets a core transport network to be established by 2030 to act as the backbone for transpor-

tation within the Single Market. Transport financing under the Connecting Europe Facility (for the period 2014–2020) will also focus on this core transport network, filling in cross-border missing links, remov-ing bottlenecks and making the network smarter.

The EUR 31.7 Billion granted to trans-port within the Connecting Europe Facility will serve in practice as “initial capital” to stimulate additional investments from the member states in order to finalize the dif-ficult cross-border connections and links which would probably not be developed otherwise. Each EUR 1 Million spent in Europe will generate EUR 5 Million from the governments of the member states and EUR 20 Million from the private sector. To support the financing from the Connect-ing Europe Facility, the Commission also adopted the terms of the “Project Bonds” Europe 2020 Initiative (bonds for the fi-nancing of projects) which will represent one of the instruments for dividing the risk that the Connecting Europe Facility could rely on in order to attract private capital for the financing of projects. The pilot phase

will begin in 2013. The new core TEN-T network will be

supported by a comprehensive network of routes, feeding into the core network at re-gional and national level. This will largely be financed by Member States, with some EU transport and regional funding possibilities, including with new innovative financing instruments. The aim is to ensure that pro-gressively, and by 2050, the great majority of Europe’s citizens and businesses will be no more than 30 minutes’ travel time from this comprehensive network.

“This is a historic agreement to create a powerful European transport network across 28 Member States. Transport is vital to the European economy, without good connections Europe will not grow or pros-per. This agreement will connect East with West and replace today’s transport patch-work with a network that is genuinely Eu-ropean.

This is a major step towards building a new transport network that will be the back-bone to boost growth and competitiveness in Europe’s Single Market”, declared the Eu-ropean Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas.

The new regulation provides for deadlines to make sure that all projects contributing to

trilateral negotiations with happy ending: agreement on a unified ten-t network

After long negotiations, the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament have reached an agreement at the end of May on the proposals to transform the existing patchwork of railways, roads, airports and waterways into a unified transport network (TEN-T).

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Source: European Commission

успешные трёхсторонние переговоры: соглашение по унифицированию сети ten-t

После длительных переговоров, Европейская комиссия, Совет и Европейский Парламент в конце мая месяца достигли соглашения по поводу предложений по преобразованию нынешнего “амальгама” железных дорог, автодорог, аэропортов и европейских водных путей в единую транспортную сеть (TEN-T).

LeX

22

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

eU has elaborated the Danube Stra-tegy for the development of this region, a strategy dedicated to im-

proving the life of citizens and focusing on mobility, connectivity, environment protec-tion, energy efficiency, economic and social development, cultural exchange etc.

The strategy includes a solid integrated framework which supports the approach by the countries and regions of the aspects which cannot be dealt with individually, at least not efficiently, but which require a strategic study, projects and activities dealt with across nations. This allows a better cooperation aimed at improving efficien-cy, the leverage and the impact of policies

across the EU by using these policies and the existing programmes and by creating synergies between them. Moreover, it is ex-tremely important that this strategy creates a favourable collaboration framework be-tween the EU countries, Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine.

Published in April, two years after the launch of the strategy, the EC report on the Danube Region says that “18 months after implementation, significant achievements are obvious. The Strategy and its related ac-tion plan rely on four pillars. New projects are facilitated for approaching main aspects and these projects offer a new stimulus for existing projects and support the networks

in the region”. “The report reveals a series of new projects

and explains in detail the way in which the strategy stimulates the existing initiatives by encouraging collaboration and the com-bination of funds, thus contributing to the EU’s long-term growth programme “Europe 2020”, declared the EU Commissioner for Regional Development, Johannes Hahn.

For interconnecting the region, the min-isters of transport adopted a declaration on the maintenance of the Danube’s wa-terways. Romania and Bulgaria have also signed the memorandum of understanding on navigability and the project of Vidin-Calafat Bridge, which creates a sustain-

Progress with the danube strategy

Although economically and socially different, the 14 countries in the Danube Region (of which 8 are EU Member States) are strongly interconnected based on an integration, growth and development potential. The region has a strategic location through which the EU opens up to its neighbours, the Black Sea region, South Caucasus and Central Asia. From the point of view of mobility, the transport axis is one of the most important eco-friendly corridors in the world. The region can significantly develop its competitiveness by enhancing collaboration, filling in missing links in the transport network and improving collaboration within the SMEs.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

Source: www.danube-region.eu, PA 1B | Mobility | Rail-Road-Air

Railways - Passenger

23

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

able transport connection between the two countries, has received a lot of attention.

The project is co-financed from European funds. It is the second bridge along the bor-der section of the 630km river and fills in an important missing link in the TEN-T network.

In order to improve the financing access, the financing dialogue in the Danube Re-gion correlates projects and funds to in-tensify collaboration between the project initiators (SMEs, banks, financing institu-tions) and financing programmes. “I would like that the priorities of the Strategy for the Danube Region would be included in the programming of our future regional funds and to be firmly integrated among nation-al, regional and local priorities of every country involved in the project. The strat-egy should be considered in every relevant political area and supported by politically and financially stable structures”, declared Hahn.

a financial instrument included in the 2014-2020 budget is necessary

The EU budget can offer limited direct fi-nancing of the implementation structure by 2014. However, considering the fact that fi-nancing is not guaranteed, it is necessary to find other support means, such as national sources or the future cross-border coopera-tion programme for the Danube Region.

The objective of the strategy is to obtain better results and a more significant impact by aligning the existing funds and policies in the EU. “Regarding this strategy, member states and the third countries which border the Danube have sent projects included in

the action plan of the strategy. The strategy is very lively and develops constantly. The countries can add new projects all the time and can eliminate from the action plan the projects which are no longer up-to-date”, declared Silvia Adriana Ţicău, Vice Chair of the European Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN).

The EU strategy does not have a budget line dedicated to the implementation of projects in the action plan, but member states can use structural funds to develop these projects. “It is essential that the projects included in the strategy would also be included in the Operational Pro-grammes of the countries for 2014-2020”, said Ţicău.

At the moment, the European Parliament and the Council are negotiating the regula-tions on the guidelines for TEN-T and the Connecting Europe Facility. Of the total budget (estimated at EUR 32 Million for 2014-200), EUR 10 Billion come from cohesion funds and “could only be used by the states that are eligible for the cohesion policy based on annual grants up to 2017 and jointly after 2017. Within the con-necting facility, rail, water and intermodal transport will be prioritized”, added Ţicău.

The Conference on the Danube Strategy (held at the end of 2012) focused on the necessity of a financial instrument dedicat-ed to strategy and included in the next pro-gramming period 2014-2020. It is impor-tant that interested member states would include the projects on the development of the TEN-T network and the Connecting Europe Facility within their operational programmes for 2014-2020 to elaborate the necessary feasibility studies as fast as

possible and to ensure the financial re-sources necessary to the co-financing of each of these projects. From the experience of previous years, the highest amounts of the Connecting Europe Facility will be of-fered to those interested through project demands launched in the period 2014-2016”, explains Ţicău.

The sure thing is that member states in the Danube region can use EUR 239 Mil-lion available of the total EU budget in order to issue bonds for the financing of projects on transport, energy and commu-nications. The programme is managed by EIB and projects should be submitted by December 2013.

Slovenia and Serbia, the coordinators of the priority area 1B (for mobility-railway-road-air), have underlined their outcome: the establishment of governance structure, the development of detailed maps for all transport modes, the identification of rel-evant projects, selected from 150 projects, of which 51% for railway, and the delivery of 17 recommendation letters, 7 of which on railway projects.

Regarding the railway programmes, so far the Steering Group of Priority Area 1B has granted Romania recommendation letters for the project on the electrification and rehabilitation of the line Bucureşti Nord - Jilava - Giurgiu – Border, the moderniza-tion of the lines Arad - Timişoara - Craiova – Calafat, Craiova - Strehaia - Drobeta Tur-nu-Severin – Caransebeş and Craiova – Ca-lafat and Priority Axis 22, northern branch: Curtici - Braşov - Bucharest – Constanţa.

“I believe that the improvement and maintenance of the existing railway infra-structure will help reduce the travel time and will improve railway transport condi-tions which will increase the number of consumers on railway freight and passenger transport”, concluded Adriana Ţicău.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

Source: www.danube-region.eu, PA 1B | Mobility | Rail-Road-Air

дунайская стратегия регистрирует прогресс

В Докладе ЕС по Дунайской стратегии, опубликованном в апреле, два года спустя после начала осуществления данной стратегии, отмечается, что «18 месяцев спустя после запуска применения, были зарегистрированы значительные достижения. Стратегия и соответствующий План действий организованы по четырем основным направлениям, касающимся новых проектов. Они обеспечивают новый импульс для поддержки проектов и сетей в регионе».

Railways - Freight

ID Task Name

39 To promote and to monitor the implementation of the rail freight corridors in Danube Regions

40 List of projects41 Serbia42 Construction of Road-Rail Bridge over the Danube at Vinca

43 INCLUSION OF THE NEW Rail Freight BALKAN CORRIDOR INTO THE EU RAILWAY SYSTEM

44 Slovenia45 Buliding Capacities to Interlink Transport Policy and

Research as a Tool to Improve Mobility and Multimodality

46 Framework Strategy Towards Sustainable Mobility in the Danube Region

24.524.5

24.5

Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 1 Qtr 21st Half 2nd Half 1st Half 2nd Half 1st Half 2nd Half 1st Half 2nd Half 1st Half

2012 2013 2014 2015 201

Time Schedule Action 2 PA 1b

Page 3

Time Schedule ‐ Action 2 PA 1b

Source: www.danube-region.eu, PA 1B | Mobility | Rail-Road-Air

24

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

public service obligations are to be defined in compliance with criteria based on ge-neral Treaty principles. To avoid excessive geographic scope of contracts being used to foreclose markets, the Commission propos-es a flexible definition of maximum contract volume. A minimum threshold below which contracts may be awarded directly will en-able competent authorities to avoid organ-ising a tendering procedure, if the expected savings of public funds would not exceed the costs of tender. Contracts directly awarded after the adoption of this legislative package will not be able to continue beyond31 De-cember 2022.

ensuring high quality, integrated ser-vices providing wider social benefits and lower external impacts compared

to other modes will continue to require a large proportion of rail services across the EU (66% of passenger-km) to be provided under public service contracts, specified and subsidized by member states, regional or lo-cal authorities. Removing the legal barrier by only allowing open access would have rather limited effects given that most domestic services are covered by public service con-tracts. Competition on domestic markets should therefore be addressed at two levels with competition “in the market” for those services that can be provided through open access and competition “for the market” to allow the transparent and cost-efficient award of public service contracts, as experi-enced today in some member states.

Existing rules give competent authorities extensive scope to directly award public service contracts in rail transport, avoiding competitive tendering procedures (which are generally required for public service con-tracts in other modes of public transport). Directly awarded public service contracts constitute 42% of all EU passenger-kilome-tres, contributing to the fact that in 16 out of 25 member states with rail, the incumbent holds above 90% market share.Evidence of competition for public service contracts in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands has shown that tendering accrues savings for

competent authorities, sometimes up to 20-30%, which can be re-invested to improve services or be used elsewhere. Experience in other liberalised markets such as Sweden and the UK has shown improvements in quality and availability of services with passenger satisfaction rising year on year and passenger growth of over 50% over ten years. Improved services would bring clear benefits to passen-gers and savings of some EUR 30-40 Billion to taxpayers.

By amending the Regulation dealing with public service obligations in public transport by road and by rail, the Commission aims to introduce mandatory tendering of public service contracts as of December 2019. The scope of those contracts and the underlying

Mandatory tender procedures for public service contracts

Markets for rail freight services have already been fully opened to competition since January 2007and those for international passenger transport services as of 1 January 2010, yet national markets for domestic passenger transport services by rail remain largely closed and are the bastions of national monopolies. The Fourth Railway Package, thorough the proposal of opening the market to the national rail passenger transport, seeks to improve the quality and the efficiency of services so that railway transport could become a more attractive choice for passengers.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Source: Rail Liberalisation Index / http://www.deutschebahn.com

Процедуры обязательного тендере на государственные контракты службы

Рынки на железнодорожные грузоперевозки уже полностью открыты для конкуренции с января 2007 года, в то время международные пассажирские перевозки в январе 2010 года, однако, на внутреннем рынке бытовых услуг пассажирских по-прежнему в значительной степени закрыты для конкуренции бастионы национальных монополий. Пакет IV Железнодорожный, предложив открытие рынка для железнодорожного транспорта внутренних пассажирских услуг, улучшить качество и эффективность услуг для железнодорожного транспорта становится все более привлекательным для пассажиров.

LeX

IBM Global Business Services

Rail Liberalisation Index 2011 55

there will be competition in these two countries in both purely commercial rail passenger services also.

Purely commercial international passenger services with cabotage are rarely seen at the moment in Europe. The first services of this kind are provided by Deutsche Bahn, Aus-trian State Railways and LeNORD between Germany, Austria and Italy and the service between Denmark and Sweden offered by the Swedish incumbent SJ with cabotage be-tween Copenhagen and Odense.

Although a number of countries have legally guaranteed open access for national RUs for passenger services provided on a purely commercial basis, in practice, however, this must often take place in competition with nation-wide services provided under a public service contract, or is not possible because the routes are used for services provided exclusively under a public service contract. This category includes Bulgaria, Greece, Po-land, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and the Baltic states.

The following graphic provides an overview of the countries in which purely commercial rail passenger services are possible, are already provided actively or where this market is closed to external RUs:

Purely commercial rail passenger services in Europe

AT and CZ: commencing end of 2011, external RUs providing purely commercial national rail passenger services.

Open access with external RUs providing commercial national rail passenger services.

Open access, but no external RUsproviding commercial national rail passenger services .

Market closed for commercial national rail passenger services.

AT and CZ: commencing end of 2011, external RUs providing purely commercial national rail passenger services.

Open access with external RUs providing commercial national rail passenger services.

Open access, but no external RUsproviding commercial national rail passenger services .

Market closed for commercial national rail passenger services.

Figure 9: Purely commercial rail passenger services in Europe

A clear distinction is evident for most Eastern European countries where, according to the law, the market is open to purely commercial rail passenger services, but external RUs are not yet active in this segment due to its lack of attractiveness.

IBM Global Business Services

Rail Liberalisation Index 2011 57

Organisation of regulatory bodies for rail transport in Europe

Regulatory Body within a Ministry:EE*, ES, IE, LT*, RO, SI****

Regulatory Body within a Railway Authority:BG, CH, CZ, FI**, HU, LV, NO, PL, PT**, SE**, SK

Special Regulatory Body:AT, BE**, DE, DK, GR, FR, IT***, LU, NL*, GB

Regulatory Body within a Ministry:EE*, ES, IE, LT*, RO, SI****

Regulatory Body within a Railway Authority:BG, CH, CZ, FI**, HU, LV, NO, PL, PT**, SE**, SK

Special Regulatory Body:AT, BE**, DE, DK, GR, FR, IT***, LU, NL*, GB

* Regulatory tasks performed by national Competition Authorities.** Regulatory Body for various modes of transport*** Regulator URSF is an independent authority reporting to the Ministry of Transport.**** Reorganisation in a special regulatory body planned for April 2011.

Figure 10: Models of regulatory bodies in Europe

A significant improvement in the LEX Index of more than 100 points was achieved by Ireland, Luxembourg, Greece, Bulgaria, Estonia, Denmark and Sweden. These countries improved primarily in terms of rail regulation in the country, market access or the organ-isational structures of the incumbent.

Details of all aspects of the LEX Index are included in the country reports or transnational overviews in Annexes V and VI.

5.1.2. ACCESS Index results

The ACCESS Index, which accounts for 80 per cent of the overall index, analyses, evalu-ates, compares and aggregates the practical market access conditions of the individual countries. The subject areas examined in the ACCESS Index are as follows:

information barriers (duration of process required to obtain information, quality of per-sonal and non-personal information provided relating to access regime, train path allo-cation, operating licence, safety certificate and rolling stock homologation),

administrative barriers (licensing, issuing of safety certificates and the rolling stock homologation process),

operational barriers (track access conditions, infrastructure charging system, other operational facilities and services),

the accessible market and the kind of terms and conditions of contract awards in 2009, and

access to sales services in passenger transport.

Purely commercial rail passenger services in Europe

Organisation of regulatory bodies for rail transport in Europe

europeanrailcongress.com

Scheduled to arrive in London on 12 November 2013

Annual Rail Awards and Summit

EUROPEANRAIL CONGRESS

SIIM KALLAS European Transport CommissionerKeynote Speaker & Judge

BRIAN SIMPSON MEP Chair of European Parliament’s Transport & Tourism Committee & Chair of Judging Panel

MATTHIAS RUETE Director-General, EuropeanCommission, DG MOVE & Chair of Technical Panel

The new European Rail Congress, a two day industry Summit and annual Rail Awards ceremony, provides a dynamic platform for key rail sector figures right across the European continent to highlight and reward best practice as well as discuss and debate key challenges and opportunities for European rail.

Entries will be accepted online at www.europeanrailcongress.com up to 19 April 2013.

Entries will be assessed by a judging panel of MEPs and an expert advisory technical panel.

Winners of the prestigious awards will be announced at an Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the 2013 European Rail Congress in London 12 to 13 November 2013.

26

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Four years after the launch of the UITP strategy on doubling the public transport market share by 2025, PTx2, results are visible, as more and more countries are trying to adapt their lifestyle, investments and policies to increasing and developing public transport. The 60th edition of the International UITP Congress (Geneva, 26-30 May 2013), attracted more participants (+34%), from 78 countries. This indicates that the industry in the sustainable mobility sector expands rapidly and gains importance in terms of economic development.

UITP has developed urban mobility scenarios for 2025 which accentuate the urgent need to improve the quality of the entire public transport system. According to scenarios, 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2025, which means that mobility needs in the urban area will increase by 50% (compared to 2005). Consequently, it will be necessary to transform mobility by promoting public transport, to deliver competitive services that would reduce the use of motorized transport means. It is also necessary to promote transport as essential element for attracting investments and social inclusion and to increase its popularity among citizens and suppliers.

Leaders

27

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

PTx2 is supposed to stimulate the entire transport sector, there are plenty of places in the world where ridership has grown ... Alain Flausch

Public transport is a major ingredient of the city lifeInterview with Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary General

RailwayPRO: How comes this new brand “Grow with Public Transport” and what is meant to be new compared to PTx2?

Alain Flausch: The idea was that PTx2 was very well understood by the people of the transport community, but it didn’t mean much to politicians, decision- makers, PTx2 is a nice name, but it can hardly mean something for the general public and for the decision-makers. So in order to maintain the momentum of the PTx2 strategy, we thought it would be in-teresting to create a more popular type of

label, of motto, so we looked around for “to grow with” and we played with it and the idea was to have a friendly picture of people using public transport, being into a public transport environment. It actually came from my previous job, when I was CEO of STIB in Brussels, we had a cam-paign also with people, a very successful campaign in the city, and I transferred it here in a different way, because it used to be coloured, here is black and white, on purpose, just to make it different and it can be a very nice way to federate all the public transport companies. As you may know, we are going to organise during the

third week of September, during the Eu-ropean Mobility Week, a day where we hope that many of our members will use that campaign to post on the flank of ei-ther tramways or buses and then we will also make a TV video showing that all over the world on that day of that week, many public transport operators will be using this and will make the argument for public transport.

RailwayPRO: At the same time, do you think that this campaign should be a standard all over the world or it can be adapted?

Alain Flausch: It is adapted. It is not just about the UITP, it can be used by all local public transport operators. Of course they can choose the type of picture, the only requirement that we have is that they stay in the same area. For instance, in Por-tugal they hired a very nice girl, who looks very Portuguese, but they kept exactly the same format. So basically, the UITP doesn’t care about whether it is in Roma-nia or in Belgium, but if one sees RATP in Paris together with UITP, at least we >

Leaders

To get into the details on the way in which the UITP strategy, PTx2, but also UITP’s latest approach on public transport (Grow with Public Transport), are understood by the authorities, operators and users, the differences between regions in stimulating public transport, the promotion of these services as economic and social importance, the need to attract investments and the place of electric transport, we have discussed with Alain Flausch, UITP Secretary General, in an interview for Railway Pro.

28

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

can do an event of the fact that every-body is using this campaign. So there will be a world movement to some extent.

RailwayPRO: Because of the financial crisis that is already expanding on five years, did you notice if there is a tendency in emerging countries of reducing public transport?

Alain Flausch: PTx2 is supposed to stimulate the entire transport sector, there are plenty of places in the world where ri-dership has grown and there are more and more people with no car. For example, in Brussels, the ridership has doubled in 10 years and the trend continued in France, in Germany etc., not at the same pace, of course.

RailwayPRO:Unfortunately, in Roma-nia, and in Eastern Europe in general, the trend is going down, the number of trips has reduced, especially in public trans-port.

Alain Flausch: That is special to your region, but it is also because you have started very high. I remember in the Czech Republic, public transport had 80% and then it went down because the car was gaining momentum, but that’s something that will stop. At some point in time, car meant freedom, especially after the com-munist era, which was more collective than individual. In 2001, I went to Poland and I met the Minister of Transport and listened to his speech and he was talking about having received EU funds. 97% of it was dedicated to roads and infrastructure rehabilitation and, indeed, the whole road system was in poor shape, so I thought it was normal to invest in roads. But then I told him that it was ok to do that with the first EU funds, but that they shouldn’t do the same mistakes that we did in Brussels in the 60s and the 70s in relying on cars and buses. He said that, from the political viewpoint, he couldn’t do differently, but today Poland is investing in public trans-port.

RailwayPRO: In Romania it is difficult to introduce regular bus services to the suburbs of a city or to its neighbouring vil-lages because of the poor shape of roads and this is a problem for operators.

Alain Flausch: This is exactly UITP’s belief, that there is no universal solution and no universal situation, the situation in Eastern Europe is different from Western Europe, it’s different from the USA, from Asia, from Africa and every time our goal is to try and find common grounds and try to take examples and recipes from other places.

RailwayPRO: But I think it is impor-tant to compare present times instead of past-present times, as I was talking with some of the participants, they compared Eastern Europe with Germany in the 60s or 70s so in 2013, I don’t want to imagine that Eastern Europe will only be there in 2050...

Alain Flausch: No, you will go much faster...When you look at the Chinese or the Indians, they have developed very ra-pidly and they don’t have the same back-ground as you do, Eastern Europe was a very developed region in the past. They go fast, but they don’t go deep. The Chinese are making mistakes, they think that they know, but I think they should have taken more time to absorb the knowledge. I be-lieve it is different in Eastern Europe, be-cause it was a solid ground there and it is still there and I think you will be able to catch up very much faster.

RailwayPRO: I remember an analy-sis I’ve seen two years ago regarding the Chinese public transport market and the share of public transport was 15-20%. A large share of individual transport went to bicycles and a little share to the car. In time, the share of private cars went up shrinking that of bikes and public trans-port remained more or less the same. So when people found out they had money, they chose private cars, at least this is my explanation.

Alain Flausch: Yes, but today in Europe the bike has come up dramatically. Be-cause when people don’t want to go by car because they think it is too congested, the fastest way to move in a city is the bike.

RailwayPRO: In order to help develop public transport, do you think that a more regulated or unregulated market would be helpful for getting access to funds?

Alain Flausch: I don’t think that non-regulation would help funding public transport easier. I think that some sort of non-regulation is interesting in terms of ef-ficiency, because if you have to make profit out of a contract, obviously you’ll be

>

Leaders

>

29

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

ready to produce electric cars and elec-tric buses but there is no infrastructure to make that choice. I believe that there is a draft regulation according to which every country will be forced to have the mini-mal infrastructure, for example Germany would have 3,000 places to load your elec-tric car. Once you have this minimal stand-ardized infrastructure, then people can go with this choice and buy electric cars and public transport operators will also buy first hybrid and then full-electric buses. But first of all we need the infrastructure and then the market would develop.

RailwayPRO: But are you confident that electric traction will be successful in the next decade?

Alain Flausch: My perception is that there is a strong push to electric mobility. In Vienna, for instance, they have set for themselves targets of passing from 49% of electric mobility today to 60% in ten years. It’s becoming really a target for the city to try to reach that percentage, which is very good. I believe we have to do it, we have to move to electric buses on the long-run. In the meantime, I’ve seen that Volvo is developing hybrids, they think that they will be valid in ten years and that full elec-tric buses will not be a solution before and I think they are right. When you see the savings that you can do in consump-tion with hybrid buses, I think it is really worth trying. There is also the biogas. In the north of France in Lille they have a plant which uses the waste to make gas for 200 buses.

careful with spending the money. Also, if you are responsible for your net profit, you’ll take care of your client more than if you are in a monopoly situation, the old public monopolies have been very bad in terms of client orientation. So, some sort of non-regulation is useful, but public trans-port is a major ingredient of the city life so it has to be done in a framework which is defined by the state or by the region or by the city, which then can tender part of the service, but in a logistic approach, because territorial space is very important. So, I’m kind of a promoter of the type of the regu-lation that Europe is promoting that is a choice for the competent authority either to give the business to its in-house opera-tor or the right to have some sort of ten-dering in a regulated manner. I think the French are doing fine, I think the British are doing fine and I see that the German model is also efficient. I’m not sure that there is one-size-fits-all. It’s a choice that politicians should make and it has been quite successful in Germany and in Eng-land as well.

RailwayPRO: But, in all these countries that you’ve mentioned, also in Belgium and Denmark, the public authority is very involved in the design of the network, in setting the routes and maybe even in set-ting the timetable compared to the actual trend in Eastern Europe where because there is no money, the public authority wants to withdraw…

Alain Flausch: Yes, but I think it’s a pity…because if you just go commercial, there are plenty of people who will want a good service and I think the state should not bend on this, it is the role of the city, of politicians to design the city, what sort of city do I want, do I want everybody to move, there is a right to move and if you relegate people in places where they can-not move, then you will have the case of the suburbs around Paris where people are poor and there is violence and so on. I think that the social inclusion part of trans-port is also important and that is a duty of the state and it requires money, of course, but it is a choice. If you don’t provide peo-ple with transportation than you get in other troubles, as collateral damages.

RailwayPRO: The existence of the ac-tual transport service is sometimes more important than the comfort inside the ve-hicles, if you don’t find a bus, or a tram or a train in your station, there’s no use if the vehicles are fitted with WiFi...

Alain Flausch: It is our right to go to school, it is our right to go to work, to move, it is one of the fundamental rights that we have.

RailwayPRO: Based on your experi-ence as head of a transport operator, do

you think that promoting the existing transport services and attracting people to public transport will make public trans-port more popular or we only have to wait for investments, to complain about poor services to suburbs and in cities? In East-ern Europe, the current pressure is to be commercially efficient rather than a tool for social inclusion.

Alain Flausch: It should be a mix; it is a pity to go one way or the other. An only social service is not the way we want to convince even richer people to use public transport. Public transport is a mode of transportation for everybody. The state should, at the same time, en-hance and stimulate client orientation, but they should continue to subsidize public transport in some parts of the ci- ties where the service is not competitive. Unfortunately, the national institutions, we’ve seen this now even in Western Eu-rope, have this new recipe of cutting eve-rything, but cutting the state subsidies has led to recession. Obviously, the state may need to have some savings. Personally, I think that the recipe of institutions such as the IMF has led us to recession. There are two things that I can say in that regard: regarding operators, at some level we have to maintain the service because we do not want to relegate the people away from so-ciety. It is a choice. Public transport and mobility used to be considered a second choice, first there was health, education and so on. Today, we have to review this priority; we have to admit that mobility is a priority too. Some of the money that was given to education or to health also makes some savings because social security is awfully expensive, so if we were running social security more efficiently, maybe we would have some money spared for mobi-lity. In the past 12 years, I’ve seen that there is a change in the government priorities, at least in some countries. Suddenly, because of congestion and under the pressure of the citizens and climate change, there is now a pressure on the politicians. Mobi-lity is now an irritating issue that they have to fix. I’m very convinced that there are public service obligations and that those public service obligations are just a duty that the payer and the user are financing, even if the taxpayer is paying more than the user to maintain the social peace of the city.

RailwayPRO: Nowadays electric buses have become quite fashionable. Since we are at the beginning of this services and taking in consideration the experience that we have with the trams and the metros, do you think that is should be a standardiza-tion or should we let every city to decide what it’s best for them?

Alain Flausch: It’s the chicken and the egg situation there. The manufacturers are

общественный транспорт является существенной составляющей городской жизни

Четыре года спустя после запуска стратегии МСОТ об удвоении доли рынка общественного транспорта к 2025 году - PTx2, результаты не заставляют себя ждать. Всё больше государств пытаются адаптировать свой образ жизни, инвестиции и политики для роста и развития общественного транспорта. Для того, чтобы узнать более подробно о том, как воспринимается стратегия МСОТ PTx2 властями, операторами и пользователями, о различиях между регионами в плане поощрения общественного транспорта, о продвижении этих важных услуг с экономической и социальной точки зрения, о необходимости привлечения инвестиций и о месте общественного транспорта, Генеральный секретарь МСОТ Алан Флауш дал интервью нашему журналу.

Leaders

>

30

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Franchise or concession agreements reduce costs and improve productivity

Awarding franchise contracts for passenger transport services aims at increasing the performance of delivering efficient transport services. The policies launched in Great Britain are aimed at encouraging operators to invest in improving services and the facilities available to passengers. “Our commitment towards long-run franchises that offer an optimized programme of railway operators’ investments will facilitate these investments”, shows the “Railway Reform Book” published in March 2012 by the British authorities.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

[ by Pamela Luică ]

the document encourages measures aimed at reforming the franchise system. It includes measures aimed

at launching more flexible franchise speci-fications to enable the operators to answer to new requirements, while still protecting the interests of taxpayers. Among other fiscal measures, mechanisms and facilities, the reform encourages longer franchises giving train operators stronger incentives to invest, more flexibility about how ser-vices are configured, but with the Govern-

ment continuing to specify a core level of services, outcome-based requirements, for instance on customer satisfaction and per-formance to ensure that train operators’ interests are better aligned with those of passengers.

For this purpose, at the beginning of the year, Transport for London (Tf L) extend-ed by 18 months the contract with Serco Docklands for the operation of Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The value of the ex-tension of the contract in force until Sep-

tember 2014 is of GBP 100 Million (EUR 119 Million), the company being respon-sible for delivering services, infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance. In fact, the extension of the contract awarded by Tf L is the outcome of Serco Docklands’ suc-cess during the Olympic Games when it carried 7.2 million passengers (an increase of over 100% in the number of passen-gers).

DLR is one of the first light rail systems in Great Britain being equipped with the

Original DLR routes

Existing extensions

Bank extension

Lewisham extension

Woolwich Arsenal extension

Beckton extension

London City Airport extension

Stratford International extension

ShadwellTower Gateway

Limehouse

Devons Road

Bow Church

Pudding Mill Lane

All Saints

West India Quay

South Quay

Heron Quays

Crossharbour

Mudchute

Island Gardens

RoyalVictoria

Bank

Westferry Poplar

Canary Wharf

Blackwall

PrinceRegent Royal

AlbertBeckton

Park Cyprus GallionsReach

Beckton

Custom House for

ExCeL

London City Airport

Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich

Deptford Bridge

Elverson Road

Greenwich

Lewisham

Woolwich Arsenal

East India

West Silvertown King George V

Pontoon Dock

Langdon Park

Stratford International

Stratford High Street

Stratford

Abbey Road

West Ham

Star Lane

Canning Town

Source: www.tfl.gov.uk

31

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

most modern automatic train control sys-tems in the world. It is 27km long and has 34 stations with 70 light rail vehicles run-ning and, according to Serco, the compa-ny’s development strategy includes more projects for the extension of the system.

Nevertheless, in April 2013, Tf L nomi-nated four bidders for a franchise on the operation of Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London starting with Septem-ber 2014. The selected bidders are Stage-coach Rail Projects, a JV of Keolis (UK) and Amey Rail and another JV including Go Ahead, Colas Rail and Serco. Thus, Tf L issues an invitation to bid to short-listed companies and then it will select the winner.

Tf L wants to make sure that within the new franchise the reliability of the new service will continue to improve and that maintenance works will be carried out on the long term on rolling stock, stations and lines. The new franchise will start op-eration on 14 September 2014. Although the short list of bidders was published this year, companies will have little time to complete legal procedures and to draft the projects necessary to the development of services and of the transport system. To find out more about the advantages that franchises have for operators, authorities and passengers and about the importance of this concept in the development of pub-lic transport, Sir Michael Robson, Manag-ing Director of Robson’s International Rail Consultancy has answered a few questions for us.

Railway PRO: At the end of April, Transport for London (Tf L) has nomi-nated four offers for a franchise on the operation of Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London. Although the contract will be signed this year, the franchise will become effective starting with September

Франчайзинг или концессионное соглашение обусловливают сокращение затрат и оптимизацию производительности

Заключение контрактов на условиях франчайзинга на услуги пассажирского транспорта касается повышения показателей результативности и обеспечения эффективного транспорта. Своими принятыми мерами Великобритания намеревается стимулировать операторов инвестировать в улучшение имеющихся услуг и льгот для пассажиров. Для того, чтобы узнать более подробно о преимуществах операторов, компетентных учреждений и пассажиров в контексте договоров на франчайзинг, а также о важности данного принципа для развития системы общественного транспорта, Управляющий директор компании Robson’s International Rail Consul-tancy Майкл Робсон дал нам интервью.

2014. How does the principle according to which the franchise enters operation one year after the conclusion of the contract operate?

Michael Robson: In order to ensure a smooth transfer of the franchise it is neces-sary to have a period of between 6 months and a year to complete the legal formali-ties. These formalities would include but not limited to the following: ensuring that a large enough performance bond was in place to cover any default by the new fran-chisee; recruiting and training new senior staff, as it is usual that when a franchise changes the senior staff leave; organising for the transfer of the remaining staff to the new company including bank details etc; preparing and printing new publicity with a different company logo; organising new premises for the HQ of the new company; creating a new lease for the rolling stock to the new franchisee if required; setting up new contracts for the supply of goods and services; dealing with station/train depot access issues; obtaining a safety certificate for the new operator.

Railway PRO: What is the goal of this practice keeping in mind that the begin-ning of the activity occurs one year after the conclusion of the contract?

Michael Robson: To ensure that there is a seamless handover from the old to the new franchise operator and that the pas-senger is not inconvenienced. This pro-cess has operated on many changeovers on the main line network with no problems at all and is proven way to ensure a smooth handover. It also ensures that there is adequate time to ensure that there are no surprises the day before the new operator takes over.

Railway PRO: Is this period of time fa-vourable to the operator or to the authori-ties?

Michael Robson: It is favourable to both parties and most importantly the passengers as it allows time for all the ne-cessary documentation and staff to be in place for the start of services by the new franchisee so that the passenger is not in-convenienced in any way.eg season tickets for monthly/annual travel are valid on the new operators services.

Railway PRO: Is this type of contract an example for the other European countries in delivering an efficient transport serv-ice?

Michael Robson: I would be strongly in favour of tendering all public rail ser-vices as I believe that by doing so the qua-lity of the service offered to the customer improves through the provision of new/refurbished rolling stock along with im-proved marketing providing new fares to attract people to use the train at off peak periods. Tendering can also drive down costs with reductions of up to 20% in terms of providing the service being achieved. In the UK, where all public rail services are franchised, passenger journeys last year were 1.44 billion which is the highest since the 1920’s with commuter traffic doubling into Birmingham. The tender for the new services may be via a franchise or conces-sion agreement, both of which will drive down costs and improve productivity. The correct tendering of services also allows the tendering authority to see exactly how much the service provision will cost and allows them to take informed decisions on the future provision of services.

Sir Michael Robson at Club Feroviar Conference - Sibiu, Feb. 2013

phot

o: C

lub

Fero

viar

PoLicies & strateGies

32

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

major control and oversight powers with regard to national railway authorities, in-frastructure managers or market players. Its monitoring responsibilities are practically limited to monitoring of safety perform-ance and of interoperability. Moreover, the Fourth Railway Package (for which a final vote is expected in July) proposes the enhancement of ERA’s role in improving the cross-acceptance of rolling stock in the Trans-European transport network.

single railway transport is essential

Increased competition should enhance the attractiveness of rail and make the sector more responsive to customers’ needs, allowing rail operators to compete with other modes. Passenger high speed services will make rail more competitive with regard to air and rail freight increasing market share and contributing to achieving climate change targets.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Source: ERA

необходимо оказать содействие осуществлению единого железнодорожного транспорта

Усиление конкуренции должно повысить привлекательность железнодорожного сектора и сделать его более чутким к потребностям клиентов, позволяя железнодорожным операторам конкурировать с другими видами транспорта. Услуги высокоскоростных железнодорожных пассажирских перевозок будут делать железнодорожный транспорт более конкурентоспособным по сравнению с воздушным транспортом, а доля рынка железнодорожных грузовых перевозок вырастет, тем самым способствуя достижению целей, установленных в сфере климатических изменений.

although in some member states, national railway authorities are generally operating efficiently, in

other countries they don’t have enough staff or the procedures they manage are long and expensive. At the same time, inte-roperability and safety requirements which should have been aligned to the common EU norms are still very different at national level, blocking the market access especially for the new entrants. This problem affects rail freight transport mostly, as the mar-kets have been opened to competition for several years. The new entrants, who often have limited human and financial resources, are relatively more vulnerable to the com-plexity of procedures and to the delays they cause. The current long and expensive pro-cedures, especially those necessary for get-ting the authorisations for rolling stock and safety certificates for transport operators, are important factors which prevent the de-velopment and the operation of the EU rail-way market. Besides being complicated and slow, these procedures do not guarantee sufficient level of mutual recognition of cer-tificates and authorisations. This negatively affects particularly new companies wishing to enter into the market, thus contributing to a low level of competition and lasting market distortions.

Many times, stakeholders also com-plained that national railway authorities may use technical arguments and a legacy of diverging and not always transparent

national rules as access barriers for new entrants. According to the results of the targeted consultation, new entrants may inter alia face discrimination from Nation-al Safety Authorities (NSAs) when apply-ing for safety certificate or during vehicle authorisation processes. Stakeholders re-ported more specifically that the processes leading to the delivery of safety certificate and vehicle authorisation are not suffi-ciently harmonised and transparent to pre-vent arbitrary and discriminative decisions by NSAs.

Notwithstanding its important role in creation of the European railway inter- operability and safety legislation, it is evident that currently ERA does not have

phot

o: C

lub

Fero

viar

showcase in the railway catalogue 2013-2014

Railway b2b Connections +

with business intelligence support

provided byInnovative Railways. Competitive Business.

The Romanian Railway Catalogue provides comprehensive data on companies, organisations and institutions in the railway arena. It is the only railway product and service information source distributed to local purchasers interested in identifying prestigious suppliers.

■ Selective and free distribution to 4,000 relevant railway contacts■ Free circulation at the most important railway events and reunions■ Available in print and CD format, free to consult online■ Showcase along with unrivaled business insights on the Romanian railway market■ Products & services information will also be posted in the Knowledge Center section of Railway PRO

Includes: ■ Current edition of the Romanian Railway Catalogue 2012 – 2013

■ Wider Black Sea Area Railway Map, country profiles and key statistics ■ Romanian railway market briefs

■ Latest editions of Railway PRO magazine

www.catalog.clubferoviar.roscan QR code to download advertising form

34

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Slavko Linic advised.With the changes in addition to the cen-

tral office, “four branch offices are being introduced in Zagreb, Osijek, Split and Rijeka, 18 customs offices in other areas of Croatia and 10 border customs offices. The customs administration will be restructured in hierarchy similar to the interior ministry in order to identify individual responsibili-ties within the system. That will complete the organisational changes and we will be ready for July 1”, Linic said.

“The government also adopted bills con-cerning certain customs items. Instead of two separate laws one unified law is being introduced with various tax rates and pay-ment delays - special excises will no longer be paid at border crossings but when turn-over of the products are realised”, he con-cluded.

croatia, the 28th member state of the european union

At the end of March 2013, the European Commission adopted the last Monitoring Report on Croatia’s EU accession preparations. Croatia is ready to access the EU on 1 July 2013 becoming the 28 member state.

Source: European Commission

хорватия - 28-е государство Европейского союза

В конце марта 2013 года Европейская комиссия приняла последний отчет о мониторинге подготовки к вступлению Хорватии в ЕС. Хорватия готова вступить в ЕС начиная с 1 июля 2013 года, и тем самым стать 28-м государством-членом данной организации.

В конце 2012 года правительство Хорватии разработало план приведения национального законодательства в соответствие с европейским законодательством; на 2013 год было запланировано принятие 107 законов, 191 решения местных властей и 63 мер по их внедрению.

croatia applied for EU membership in 2003, entered negotiations in 2005 and ended negotiations in

2011 when the Accession Treaty was signed (in December 2011) following the Favour-able Opinion (October 2011) of the Com-mission and the Approval of the European Parliament (December 2011). Therefore, starting with 1 July 2013, Croatia will be-come an EU member state, the Accession Treaty being ratified by all member states. During negotiations, Croatia has agreed to meet a series of commitments that has to be completed until the accession, un-less special transition directives have been established. The Commission has carefully monitored all the commitments assumed by Croatia focusing on the competition policy, the legal system, the fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security.

“The final report is positive news. Croatia has worked hard and kept the pace of re-forms. The country is now ready to take its place in the EU as planned and we are look-ing forward to completion of the ratifica-tion of the Accession Treaty and welcoming Croatia in the EU on 1 July”, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbour-hood Policy Štefan Füle said.

At the end of 2012, the Croatian Go-

vernment drafted a plan aimed to align the national legislation to the European legisla-tion; the adaptation of 107 laws was neces-sary, as well as that of 191 decisions of local authorities and 63 implementation mea-sures. Also, the government drafted a plan of normative activities (also for 2013) and a draft Strategy to review the efficiency of regulations over the coming 3 years in order to create a better legislation and to reduce costs; moreover, the government will pass 72 regulations, 61 of which will be submit-ted to this evaluation.

To prepare the country in view of the ac-cession, Croatian authorities will soon have to regulate a series of measures concerning the customs law, the system of taxes and the organisation of the customs system. In May 2013, the government already adopted a draft law on the customs services aimed to adapt the regulations of customs charges in conformity with the new obligations as EU member state.

As of 1 July, Croatia’s customs administra-tion would not only protect borders from illegal goods transport but would be re-sponsible for fiscal controls of EU revenue which means curbing any form of imper-missible conduct relating to customs and Value Added Tax (VAT), Finance Minister

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

10

The principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination will be respected in all areas of

the IPA programme.

Indicators of achievement will be included at programme and/or project level. Programmes

and/or projects may benefit several sectors and therefore require strong coordination

structures during all programming and implementation stages in order to achieve the

maximum impact. This coordination role should be ensured by the National IPA Coordinator

(NIPAC) in Croatia as well as the Strategic Coordinator for IPA Components III and IV.

According to the Multi-annual Indicative Financial Framework (MIFF) for IPA for the years

2011-20136, Croatia will receive an indicative allocation of about EUR 479 million of pre-

accession funds. The planned allocation per sector and per year is presented below:

In EUR million

Indicative Financial Allocation per Sector (€ million)

2011-2013 Period 2007 -

2010

Period 2011 - 2013

Justice and Home Affairs and

Fundamental Rights

56.27 64.50 15 %

Public Administration Reform 17.93 8.60 2 %

Environment and Climate Change 84.94 77.40 18 %

Transports 77.96 77.40 18 %

Private Sector Development 62.63 51.60 12 %

Social Development 30.81 60.20 14 %

Agriculture and Rural Development 127.32 90.30 21 %

Other (Acquis specific projects) 17.07 - -

TOTAL 474.13* 430.00* 100 %

* This table does not include allocations for IPA Component II, Cross-border cooperation, which is dealt with in

a separate MIPD.

6 COM (2009) 543 of 14 October 2009.

Source: www.delhrv.ec.europa.eu

[ by Pamela Luică ]

Indicative Financial Allocation per Sector (euro million)

35

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

cohesion). Also, starting with 2008, the go-vernment has adopted the Conclusion on participating to EU programmes, among which FP7, Marco Polo II, Customs 2013 (programme which offers customs admi-nistrations the opportunity of cooperating in different areas), Framework programme for competitiveness and innovation (CIP), next to other 11 programmes.

Croatia will become eligible for structural and cohesion funds starting with the second half of 2013 the total funds approved being worth EUR 687.5 Million, the contribution of the new EU member state to the com-munity budget being of EUR 374 Million. Funds for the financial assistance of Croatia in 2013 amount to EUR 93.5 Million with access to all the 5th CIP components (as-sistance for transition and consolidation of institutions, cross-border cooperation, regional development, human resources development and rural development).

croatia prepares to access european funds

As EU member state, Croatia will benefit from European funds to boost economic growth and integration into European policies and programmes.

хорватия готовится к усвоению европейских фондов

В качестве государства-члена ЕС, Хорватия будет иметь доступ к европейским средствам, направленным на обеспечение экономического роста и на интеграцию в политическую жизнь Европы и на осуществление европейских программ. Но для того, чтобы в будущем пользоваться поддержкой со стороны ЕС, Хорватия должна обеспечивать адекватную способность управлять средствами и заниматься серьезными проектами. Данные характеристики абсолютно необходимы для эффективного использования структурных фондов и фондов сплочения.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

the economic situation is difficult; by 2009, the Croatian economy has enjoyed 10 years of growth of

foreign investments, together with a low inflation, stable currency and infrastructure development, but its investment activity has reduced mostly because of the global economic crisis and there are still structural problems. For the first quarter of 2013, EC estimated a 1% drop of the GDP. However, measures necessary to structural economic reforms have been implemented in order to optimise competitiveness and growing es-timates. In this context, in order to benefit from the future support of the EU, “Croatia has to ensure an adequate administrative capacity for the management of funds and to initiate mature projects. These character-istics are absolutely necessary for the effi-cient use of structural and cohesion funds”, declared Štefan Füle, the European Com-missioner of Expansion and Neighbouring Policy.

In April, the Croatian Government adopt-ed the Economic Programme which is a pe-riodical obligation of the accession. “With the Economic Programme, Croatia has accessed the European semester, an instru-ment which coordinates EU economic poli-cies and objectives within the Europe 2020

Strategy”, declared Branko Grcic, Minister of Regional Development.

The programme consists in the con-vergence to the other macro-economic projects and fiscal frameworks for short and long term reforms and, according to the programme adopted by authorities, Croatia’s GDP is estimated at a growth of 0.7% (for 2013) and will be accelerated to a growth of 2.4% (in 2014) and 3.5% (in 2015 and 2016).

In order to support economic and social development, but also to encourage region-al and cross-border cooperation and con-solidate institutions, Croatia has benefited from financial support through the Instru-ment for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) since 2007. Therefore, EU has allocated Croatia a financing worth EUR 998 Mil-lion as future member state and the country can also absorb other EU funds (structural,

8

Special Report No 14/2011 – Has EU assistance improved Croatia's capacity to manage post-accession funding? Special Report No 14/2011 – Has EU assistance improved Croatia's capacity to manage post-accession funding?

E U P R E - ACC E S S I O N A S S I S TA N C E TO P R E PA R E F O R M E M B E R S H I P

4. The purpose of EU pre -access ion ass istance is to suppor t the a d o p t i o n a n d i m p l e m e nt at i o n o f t h e a c q u i s c o m m u n a u t a i r e , a n d t o h e l p t h e c a n d i d a t e c o u n t r i e s s t r e n g t h e n t h e i r a d -minist rat ive capaci t y in preparat ion for managing the larger a m o u nt s o f E U f u nd i n g ava i l a bl e to t h e m o n ce t he y b e co m e M ember States. The Commiss ion fo l lows t wo complementar y approaches to strengthening administrat ive capacit y. Fi rst ly, i t d i r e c t l y f u n d s a c t i v i t i e s s u c h a s i n s t i t u t i o n b u i l d i n g, t h e sett ing up of management systems and tra ining. Secondly, i t a lso suppor ts capacity bui lding through funding programmes similar to those under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Struc tural and Cohesion Funds in order to enable candidate countr ies to ‘ lear n by doing ’ as they implement such programmes before their access ion.

5. Since 2001 the Commission has provided pre -accession assist-a n ce to Cro at i a t h ro u g h s e ve ra l i n s t r u m e nt s ( s e e Fi g u r e 1 ) 4. Init ia l ly, this was provided through the Community assistance fo r r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , d e v e l o p m e n t a n d s t a b i l i s a t i o n ( C A R D S ) p r o g r a m m e . T h e P h a r e p r o g r a m m e , t h e C o m m i s s i o n’s m a i n pre -access ion instrument, was introduced in Croat ia in 2005. I t was complemented by the Instrument for Structural Pol ic ies for Pre -Access ion ( ISPA) , f inancing inf rast ruc ture projec ts in t h e t ra n s p o r t a n d e nv i ro n m e nt s e c to r s a n d t h e p re c u r s o r o f the EU Cohesion Fund, and the specia l access ion programme for rura l development (Sapard) which was s imi lar ly intended as a precursor for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural De -velopment (EAFRD) . From 2007 these three instruments were replaced by the Instrument for Pre -Accession ( IPA) , which pro -v i d e s f u n d i n g o f a p p rox i m ate l y 1 5 0 m i l l i o n e u ro p e r a n n u m t h ro u g h f i ve co m p o n e nt s ( s e e Ta b l e 1 ) . Fo l l ow i n g a cce s s i o n EU funding to Croat ia wi l l great ly increase.

4 EU assistance to Croatia

started in 1991, immediately

after the outbreak of armed

con�ict in former Yugoslavia.

Over the period 1991–2000,

382 million euro was provided

through the European

Commission Humanitarian

O�ce (1991–98), and through

the Obnova (Croatian word

for ‘rebuilding’) programme

1998–2000, which focused on

the return and reintegration of

refugees and displaced persons,

reconstruction of infrastructure,

economic revitalisation of war-

a�ected areas and demining.

Component

I. Transition assistance and

institution building

II. Cross-border cooperation

III. Regional development

IV. Human resources

development

V. Rural development Total

Totals (2007–13) 299 105 379 104 184 1 071

Source: COM(2009) 543 �nal of 14 October 2009 — Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) — Multiannual indicative �nancial framework for 2011–13.

TA B L E 1I PA A S S I S TA N C E TO C R O AT I A 2007 – 13 ( M I L L I O N E U R O )

Source: EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS

IPA assistance to Croatia 2007-13 (euro million)

Implementation of EU assistance to Croatia (euro million, march 2011)

18

Special Report No 14/2011 – Has EU assistance improved Croatia's capacity to manage post-accession funding? Special Report No 14/2011 – Has EU assistance improved Croatia's capacity to manage post-accession funding?

22. S e v e r a l p r e - I PA p r o j e c t s a u d i t e d b y t h e Co u r t w e r e n o t y e t ready to be implemented af ter the f inancing agreement had been s ign e d. Th is was becaus e the ne cessar y ter ms of re fer -ence or technical speci f icat ions needed to enable the launch of tenders had not been f inal ised by the Croat ian author i t ies. Th u s t h e ave ra g e t i m e f ro m t h e f i n a n c i n g a gre e m e n t to t h e tender launch was 12 months for the contrac ts audited. There w a s s o m e i m p r o v e m e n t u n d e r I PA , t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g t i m e being reduced to 8 months, but there remains scope for better per formance in this area .

Programmes in Croatia Budget % of budget contracted % of budget paid1

CARDS 260 97 % 92 %

Phare 147 86 % 78 %

ISPA 59 96 % 63 %

Sapard 25 62 % 48 %

IPA I 2007 45 90 % 57 %

IPA I 2008 42 27 % 20 %

IPA I 2009 42 11 % 11 %

IPA II 2007–09 8 64 % 36 %

IPA III 2007–09 (of which) 143 29 % 7 %

– Operational programme (OP) transport 54 20 % 4 %

– OP environment 54 25 % 2 %

– OP regional competitiveness 35 48 % 20 %

IPA IV 2007–09 — OP human resources development 38 71 % 9 %

IPA V 2007–09 (IPARD) — Measures 101 and 103 51 12 % 0 %

Total 860 68 % 55 %

1 Excluding advance payments of 30 % for Components III, IV, V.

Source: EU delegation to Croatia.

TA B L E 3I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F E U A S S I S TA N C E TO C R O AT I A ( M I L L I O N E U R O, M A R C H 2011 )

Source: EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS

PoLicies & strateGies

36

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

croatia, on the road to railway reform

As of 1 July, Croatia joins the 27 member states of the European Union. A World Bank report shows that the state to the Adriatic Sea has an increasing and competitive economy, as well as the appropriate institutional capacity to face the EU membership demands.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

croatia is crossed by three pan-Euro-pean transport corridors and the au-thorities carried out complex invest-

ment programmes to develop the country’s sections on these three transport corridors. However, public money went to the road transport sector, so that today the Croatian railway transport is confronted with many challenges and requires major investments to be fully integrated into the Trans-Europe-an transport network.

The Croatian National Railway Company has gone through serious changes and is now divided into five independent companies: HŽ Holding, HŽ Passenger Transport, HŽ Cargo, HŽ Infrastructure and HŽ Traction.

Croatian Railways is still in a transition pe-riod, the restructuring and privatisation of certain parts are not fully finalized because the company lacks a clearer strategy on the future activities of the railway area. The Croatian railway network has 2.723 km of which 254 km of double track and 985 km of electrified track. Croatia benefits from several important railway sections, part of them coming from Slovenia to Dobova via Zagreb, to Slavonski Brod and to Tovarnik, from Zagreb to Osijek and then to the sec-tions Zagreb – Rjeka, Zagreb – Split.

Croatia has railway connections to the bor-ders with Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The most important railway line is Dobova – Tovarnik, part of the pan-European corridor X, electrified on most of its double rail sections; at the same time, it is

the railway with the highest traffic. For the moment, passenger and freight transport are not considered fully efficient, but the decision-makers in the Croatian railway sec-tor make significant efforts to improve the railway infrastructure, especially that on the pan-European Corridor X.

Croatian infrastructure manager HZ In-frastruktura plans to invest EUR 2 Billion in the national section of Corridor X by 2020 to align it to European standards. By the end of 2020, the Croatian section of Corridor X will be modernised to permit the traffic of trains at speeds of up to 160 km/h, will be fully doubled and fitted with GSM-R tech-nology.

Some sections have already been moder-nised, other sections are under modernisa-tion and others are in the design phase and could be included in the applications for EU funds in 2015. In the past ten years, major investments have been carried out in the im-provement and modernisation of the railway infrastructure, so that there are railway sec-tions on which the traffic speed is 120 km/h up to 160 km/h on sections such as Zagreb – Novska – Vinkovci. According to the World Bank report, 756 km of railway line have been upgraded in the past ten years. For 2013, the infrastructure manager plans to implement several projects regarding the re-construction and modernisation of Zagreb-Sisak section, part of the Turopolje-Velika Gorica line, Sisak-Petrinja and Sisak-Caprag-Novska. Moreover, the company will launch

projects for the reconstruction of the railway tunnels in the Sisak region in 2014.

Zagreb public transport: light rail or metro?

Winner of the European Mobility Week Award in 2012, the city of Zagreb plans to reduce the use of individual vehicles by de-veloping a more efficient and more attrac-tive public transport system for its citizens. Moreover, the support of cycling is one of the measures aimed to improve mobility in the Croatian capital.

The over 800,000 people living in the city and the many tourists visiting the capital will enjoy the measures aimed to reduce traffic congestion and to improve the services such as accessibility to the public transport sys-tem. The authorities have decided to adopt more eco-friendly means of transport, to in-tegrate the railway transport system into the public transport system, but also to reduce the impact of the company’s vehicles on the environment.

Currently, Zagreb transport system relies on a mix of public transport vehicles and individual cars. Urban transport has 19 tram lines (four of which are dedicated to night transport), 120 bus routes, both systems be-ing managed by Zagrebački električni tram-vaj (ZET). Croatian Railways manages the commuter railway transport system provid-ing connection to the suburbs of the capital.

Different electoral campaigns of the can-

Railway Reform in South East Europe and Turkey: On the Right Track? Annexes

166

Figure 112: Croatian Railways Traffic, 2000-2009

Source: UIC.

298. Rail traffic intensity rose from 41 percent to 53 percent of the EU average over 2005-2009. In 2009, traffic intensity in Croatia stood at 1,643,775 traffic units per rail route-km—nearly double the traffic intensity in Serbia. Having peaked at 1,904,849 in 2007, before being adversely affected by the impact of the international financial crisis from the last quarter of 2008, rail traffic intensity rose by 26.6 percent over 2005-2007 (Figure 113). Traffic intensity is being pulled down by passenger services: in 2009, freight traffic intensity, at 969,886 traffic units per rail route-km, was equal to 75 percent of the EU average, Nevertheless, the intensity of overall infrastructure usage remains below the EU average, with negative financial repercussions given the high fixed costs of rail infrastructure.

Figure 113: Croatia – Rail Traffic Intensity, 2005-2009

Figure 114: Croatia - Traffic Units per Staff and Staff Levels

Source: UIC. Source: UIC.

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Passenger (million pass-km) Freight (million ton-km)

40%

42%

44%

46%

48%

50%

52%

54%

1,400,000

1,500,000

1,600,000

1,700,000

1,800,000

1,900,000

2,000,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Croatia % of EU average

12,600

12,800

13,000

13,200

13,400

13,600

13,800

14,000

14,200

14,400

250,000

270,000

290,000

310,000

330,000

350,000

370,000

390,000

410,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Traffic units/staff Staff

Croatia – Rail Traffic Intensity, 2005-2009 Croatia - Traffic Units per Staff and Staff Levels

37

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

a light rail system (rapid tram) instead of an underground metro system, but both vari-ants have so far been abandoned because of lack of funds.

Various studies have emphasized the ne-cessity to build a light rail line instead of an underground metro system, because the former would be less expensive.

The construction of an underground sys-tem will cost twice as much as a light rail. Experts have pro and against arguments. A metro system could carry 70,000 passengers an hour, while a light rail system could only carry 24,000 passengers per hour. However, experts estimated a maximum volume of 7,000 passengers per hour for 2020, consi- dering the fact that Zagreb population doesn’t exceed 1 million people. Therefore, it seems that odds are for the light rail system. According to the municipality’s plans, four or five light rail lines could be built in Zagreb. They will have a total length of 25 km in the underground and 55 at surface. The cost of the entire project was estimated at EUR 5.5 Billion and necessary works could expand up to 20 years.

Croatian Railways Traffic, 2000-2009

хорватия на пути железнодорожной реформы

С 1 июля Хорватия присоединится к 27 государствам-членам Европейского союза. В докладе Всемирного банка указывается, что государство, расположенное на берегу Адриатического моря, имеет растущую и конкурентоспособную экономику и адекватный институциональный потенциал для соответствия всем требованиям, предъявленным в отношении стран-членов ЕС. Хорватию пересекают три общеевропейских транспортных коридора, а власти провели обширную программу инвестиций в развитие хорватских отсеков этих трех транспортных коридоров.

PoLicies & strateGiesRailway Reform in South East Europe and Turkey: On the Right Track? Annexes

166

Figure 112: Croatian Railways Traffic, 2000-2009

Source: UIC.

298. Rail traffic intensity rose from 41 percent to 53 percent of the EU average over 2005-2009. In 2009, traffic intensity in Croatia stood at 1,643,775 traffic units per rail route-km—nearly double the traffic intensity in Serbia. Having peaked at 1,904,849 in 2007, before being adversely affected by the impact of the international financial crisis from the last quarter of 2008, rail traffic intensity rose by 26.6 percent over 2005-2007 (Figure 113). Traffic intensity is being pulled down by passenger services: in 2009, freight traffic intensity, at 969,886 traffic units per rail route-km, was equal to 75 percent of the EU average, Nevertheless, the intensity of overall infrastructure usage remains below the EU average, with negative financial repercussions given the high fixed costs of rail infrastructure.

Figure 113: Croatia – Rail Traffic Intensity, 2005-2009

Figure 114: Croatia - Traffic Units per Staff and Staff Levels

Source: UIC. Source: UIC.

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Passenger (million pass-km) Freight (million ton-km)

40%

42%

44%

46%

48%

50%

52%

54%

1,400,000

1,500,000

1,600,000

1,700,000

1,800,000

1,900,000

2,000,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Croatia % of EU average

12,600

12,800

13,000

13,200

13,400

13,600

13,800

14,000

14,200

14,400

250,000

270,000

290,000

310,000

330,000

350,000

370,000

390,000

410,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Traffic units/staff Staff

didates to head of the city have often an-nounced projects for the construction of a second rail transport system in the city, more precisely the construction of an under-

ground line. This mode of transport is aimed to complete the tram transport system and the rail commuter system. The authorities have often mentioned the idea of building

Railway Reform in South East Europe and Turkey: On the Right Track? Annexes

167

Figure 115: The Rail Network of Croatia

Source: World Bank. 299. Despite recent investments, there is a significant maintenance backlog in rail substructure and superstructure. There have been major infrastructure improvements over the

38

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

be equipped with the GSM-R technology.Certain sections have already been mo-

dernised, others are being modernised and others are in the phase of design and will be included in applications for EU funds as of 2015.

In addition, works have kicked off on the reconstruction project for the Sisak railway station and the construction of a walkway over the Sisak-Caprag line, at a cost of EUR 6.1 Million.

The reconstruction of the railway station, worth EUR 5.25 Million, includes the up-grade of three tracks and a pedestrian cross-ing as well as the construction of the sewage and drainage, lighting, access systems etc. Works should be completed by the end of 2014.

By the end of the year, the infrastructure manager plans to implement a number of railway projects aiming at the reconstruction and modernisation of Zagreb-Sisak sections, part of the Turopolje-Velika Gorica track, the Sisak-Petrinja railway and Sisak-Caprag-Novska rail track. In addition, for next year, the company will launch reconstruction projects of tunnels in the Sisak region and estimates the completion of the moderniza-tion project of the Okucani-Novska railway section. Funds amounting to EUR 40 Mil-lion are awarded for its implementation, the contract including also signalling and tele-communications works for approximately 20 km of double line for the Okučani – Novska sections, in Okučani and Halt Rajić stations, on Corridor X.

although a small state, Croatia is crossed by important transport cor-ridors X, Vb, Vb1 (corridors which

represent a connection between the ports of the Adriatic Sea and the destinations of the Eurasian area), Vc and Corridor VII, the in-vestments granted to infrastructure moder-nisation projects being vital for positioning Croatia in the European transport system, but also in relation with the neighbouring states in the East.

Thus, within the EU, the main objective of SOP-T as regards Croatia is to grant in-vestments to projects that have an impact on the railway infrastructure modernisa-tion along TEN-T, the Corridors X and V and, at the same time, the purpose of the programme is to continue the preparation of the future modernisation projects and to improve inland waterway transport (on Corridor VII).

In the railway infrastructure segment, at the moment Croatia is initiating important projects for integration in the EU network, and the authorities in charge are elaborating future projects. According to the railway in-frastructure manager (HZ Infrastruktura),

EUR 3.3 Billion should be invested by 2017 in modernising the infrastructure. “The company will start the project implementa-tion this very year by rehabilitating 100 km of railway line a year. HZ Infrastruktura will apply for funding from the EU’s cohesion and structural funds, as soon as Croatia joins the bloc in July”, stated HZ Infrastruktura’s CEO Darko Perisic. The first three projects concern the reconstruction of Dugo Selo-Krizevci railway line and the construction of Podsused-Samobor and Gradec-Sveti Ivan Zabno lines, all located in the central part of Croatia. In April, HZ Infrastruktura announced the launch of the tender for the modernisation of the railway line which connects the Hungarian border to Botovo and Dugo Selo, works on the line Koprivni-ca-Botovo-border being estimated at EUR 17 Million, the company announced.

The authorities also plan to invest EUR 2 Billion in the national section of Corridor X by 2010, to bring it to European standards. By the end of 2020, the Croatian segment of Corridor X will be modernised to allow the traffic of trains at speeds up to 160 km/hour, will be completely doubled and will

Priority investments aim at modernising corridor X

Since Croatia will become an EU member, the financing possibilities of projects will increase significantly, emphasizing here the importance of the transport segment. As the transport system is among EU’s priorities within the cohesion and structural funds, Croatia will obviously benefit from this financing more than it did before.

Приоритетные инвестиции касаются модернизации коридора х

По сегменту железнодорожной инфраструктуры Хорватия в настоящее время осуществляет важные проекты интеграции в сеть ЕС, а ответственные структуры разрабатывают будущие проекты. Согласно администратору железнодорожной инфраструктуры (ХЖ Инфраструктура), до 2017 года будет вкладываться 3,3 млрд. евро в модернизацию инфраструктуры.

Pre-accession plans

Source: HZ Infrastrucktura

[ by Pamela Luică ]

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

39

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

It is also necessary to rethink the strategies on the extension of the tram, metro or light rail networks and even for the construction of new such networks.

“By 2050, most of passenger transport operations on medium distances (starting with 300 km) would be done on railways”, say EU policies.

Prognoses for 2030 and 2050 look good on paper, it seems that we have already eliminated the polluting factor from urban transport….But if we take a closer look to what is happening now in most European cities and metropolitan areas and if we don’t start using and investing in electrified city transport and in supporting its exten-sion, we will not be able to meet this objec-tive and we will still have draft projects in 2030-2050.

Environmentally friendly policies have been introduced in many cities across the EU. Action at EU level can help strengthen markets for new, clean vehicle technologies and alternative fuels. This will directly sup-port EU industry, promote healthy environ-ments and contribute to the recovery of the European economy.

The current situation regarding accessibi-

the current situation of public transport is no longer an option

In most situations, in large urban agglomerations, territorial expansions to suburbs have made public transport or other similar alternatives no longer attractive compared to private cars. A vicious circle has been created: the low public transport demand has triggered fewer resources for this type of services and it has all climaxed in a poorer offer from public transport operators.

i n order to break this vicious circle, the city planners and public transport decision makers (local, regional and

national) have to focus their strategies on renewing transport vehicles, but also on developing a connection between public transport and urban planning. Urban mo-bility is a constantly growing concern for the citizens. Nine out of ten EU citizens be-lieve that the situation of traffic in their area should improve. The development of effi-cient transport systems in urban areas has become a task which grows in complexity considering both traffic congestion in the city and the accelerated urban expansion.

The main responsibilities on urban mo-bility policies are those of local, regional and national authorities. However, the de-cisions adopted at local level are not made individually, but they are integrated within the national, regional and European legisla-tions. Consequently, the Commission be-lieves that a lot of progress can be achieved towards supporting local, regional and national activities and elaborating a joint approach that would fully observe the dif-ferent competencies and responsibilities of concerned parties.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

lity in the EU suggests that there is a strong difference between central and peripheral areas in terms of connectivity and trans-port costs. The suburbs have higher average transport costs, explained not only by the need for longer trips, but also by the more expensive or less efficient transport solu-tions that are available.

The various modes would in general keep their relative share in the absence of signifi-cant policy changes.

Road transport would maintain its domi-nant role in both passenger and freight transport within the EU, with passenger cars still contributing more than two thirds to total passenger transport in 2050. High congestion levels would seriously affect road transport in several member states by 2030 without effective countervailing measures such as road pricing. While urban congestion will mainly depend on car own-ership levels, the extent of urban sprawl and the degree of availability of public transport alternatives, congestion on the inter-urban network would be the result of growing freight transport activity along specific cor-ridors, in particular where these corridors cross urban areas with heavy local traffic.

Сохранение нынешнего положения общественного транспорта не является жизнеспособным вариантом

В большинстве случаев, в крупных городах территориальное расширение в сторону окраин сделали общественный транспорт и другие альтернативы менее привлекательными по сравнению с транспортом на собственном автомобиле. Практически образовался порочный круг: низкий спрос на общественный транспорт привел к выделению ему меньших ресурсов, а в итоге образовалось более слабое предложение услуг общественного транспорта.

Source: www.eea.europa.eu

MobiLity

40

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

and parking charges have been increased”, explained Tõnu Karu.

The application of all these measures has already generated an increase in public transport attractiveness as more and more passengers have chosen public transport (the number of people travelling by bus has increased by 14%) and this also in-cluded the establishment of new types of passengers in workdays, in the evening or in weekends. Moreover, road traffic in the city centre dropped by 15%.

In order to increase the share of public transport, the authorities have implement-ed projects to upgrade services. “The sat-isfaction level of passengers has improved along with the modernisation of the ticket-ing system as they got used to the new sys-tem, the transport timetables are more pre-cise, as 79% of the passengers believe; also, 60% of the people using public transport say they use public transport because it is free. Among passengers, the positive evalu-ation of different aspects is of 57%-83%. The benefits of free public transport for the environment, the social segment and the economic sector encourage us to continue with what we’re doing” added Karu.

The development plan of the Estonian capital is very ambitious as the authori-ties plan to candidate for the title of the European Green Capital 2018. Free public transport is the first step in this process. The authorities could also launch debates on the supply of other free public services.

Tõnu Karu, Representative of Tallinn at the European Union, talks in an inter-view about the increasing quality of pub-lic transport in European cities, its role in economic development, as well as the ne-cessity and the challenges brought by the decision of delivering free public transport services.

Railway PRO: Can a city really adopt a new lifestyle in terms of public transport? What are the challenges met in changing the lifestyle of a city?

e stonia was the first of the former soviet countries to adopt the Euro currency, being a promoter of the

free market, providing facilities to foreign investors and privatising the important sec-tors of the economy. After these moderni-sation policies, Estonia has kept going and has launched a new challenge to European countries: since the beginning of this year, Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, has be-come the largest city to provide free public transport services to its citizens.

Before introducing free public transport services, the authorities have launched a referendum (in March 2012), where 75.5% of the citizens voted “for” the launch of free public transport services and the rest of 24.5% were against.

In 2012, before introducing free public transport services, the authorities imple-mented a series of measures including the extension of the transport network includ-ing the bus lines (in 2012), the merger of the two city companies which provided transport services (in June 2012), the deci-sion of the Local Council on the applica-tion of the measure (voted in September 2012 and in force since 1 January 2013) and the implementation of the new pay-ment systems (contactless payment since September 2012).

With a population of 425,000 citizens, Tallinn owns 480 public transport vehicles (buses, trams, trolleybuses) and the budg-et allocated to public transport in 2012 was of EUR 53 Million. “Total revenues

from tickets are worth EUR 17 Million, EUR 5 Million coming from those who are not citizens of the city. In this context, studies showed that free public transport costs the citizens an annual EUR 12 Mil-lion”, declared Tõnu Karu, Representative of Tallinn at the European Union, during the conference “Optimisation of railway passenger transport services” organized by Club Feroviar and the Romanian Railway Industry Association.

When adopting the policy on the provi-sion of free transport services, the authori-ties have considered four aspects related to the social, economic, environmental and fiscal segments. From the social point of view, the stress has fallen on guaranteeing mobility for the residents with small rev-enues or for the unemployed because the use of public transport facilitates the use of common spaces for the different segments of the society; the economic aspect has focused on increasing the mobility of the work force in the space limits of the city, stimulating the activity of consumers and directing the savings from public transport to other goods and local services. As re-gards the environment, the authorities have implemented this project to encourage mo-dal shift and to attract the people using in-dividual transportation to public transport while considering the well-known charac-teristics of urban transport: increased air quality, reduced pollution and noise level, as well as the development of urban areas. As part of the fiscal activity, the authori-ties in Tallinn see a strong motivation for registering the residency of the citizens in Tallinn, thus increasing the income tax. New financing sources have thus been identified and “since January 2012, a 2% growth of the people registered as Tallinn residents has been noticed (9,000 persons) which increases the city’s revenues coming from the income taxes. Also, the two public transport companies have merged leading to significant operating cost savings; more-over, parking spaces have been extended

Recent estimates show that the decision on free public transport services in tallinn was the right thing to do

Estonia is one of the European countries which have lately tried to adapt to new requirements on economic and social growth struggling to answer to development and modernization needs in a new and revolutionary way.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

MetroPoLitan

41

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

Railway PRO: What is the role of pub-lic transport in the economic development of a city and of a country?

Tõnu Karu: Efficient public transport is most important tool to guarantee the movement of people between their homes, jobs, service districts, leisure areas etc. It enables the residents to save their personal time, their money and so increases the economic efficiency.

Railway PRO: Tallinn is the first Euro-pean capital to have introduced free public transport services, an action of courage that could lead public transport to a differ-ent level. What were the reasons for which the authorities decided on such a project?

Tõnu Karu: Like all municipalities, Tallinn has been subsidising the public transport in the city since long.

The analyses proved that introducing free public transport for the residents of Tallinn will be beneficial for the people and help us to reach the aim of sustain-able movement of people. Tallinn is able to allocate the needed finances in the City budget.

In March 2012 the referendum on in-troducing the free public transport was held in Tallinn. As the result, 75% of the participants in the referendum supported the initiative and gave the administration the strong mandate to develop the initia-tive. Based on the support of the people Tallinn City Council adopted the decision in September 2012 to introduce free pub-lic transport for the residents of Tallinn from 01 January 2013.

Railway PRO: What is the objective of this policy in the transport sector, but also socially, economically and environmen-tally?

Tõnu Karu:The objective of free public transport is diverse.

As the social aspects, free public trans-port guarantees mobility for unemployed and low income residents of Tallinn, not able to travel because of financial limita-tions.

Source: ‘Steps towards free public transport in Tallinn’, Taavi Aas Deputy mayor

Tõnu Karu: It would be impossible to continue the unlimited growth and the increasing number of private cars in the traditional cities of Europa. Streets are not designed to meet all the cars. The air pol-lution with CO2 and dust as well as noise pollution are dangerous for all inhabitants, including the children and elderly people. Parking the cars in the central location is expensive and increasing the tariffs for parking does not solve the problem.

The parking places in the residential re-gions take away the valuable land for green areas, playgrounds and recreation paths.

The growing number of private cars means heavy traffic jams and the average cruising speed is getting lower in reality. It means the time lost for the family, friends and hobbies.

For many people the private car has been a status symbol in kind. It is the challenge for the municipalities to promote alterna-tive lifestyle to use bicycles, more walking and using the public transport. Fortunate-ly the younger generation in their twenties is not so much addicted to have their pri-vate cars. If needed occasionally, they are easy to rent cars or use car-sharing.

Railway PRO: How can the quality of public transport be improved in the Euro-pean cities?

Tõnu Karu: The cities should have the development of public transport as the high priority in their development strate-gies. It means the innovative measures of spatial planning, modernised sustainable transport fleet and ITS with efficient use of the ICT applications for informing the passengers.

It means new long-time investments and the shift of priorities for the munici-pal budget combined with targeted using of available EU funding to implement the best practices. I consider learning from the experience of cities with most advanced and sustainable public transport will speed

up the process and makes the results cost-efficient.

Considering the ageing society the measures of barrier-free public transport should be implemented (low-floor buses/trams/trolleybuses) to guarantee the high quality service for all.

Railway PRO: What are the most ef-ficient methods of achieving the modal shift to more sustainable transport modes in cities?

Tõnu Karu: The municipalities can introduce priority/exclusive/dedicated lanes for public transport in the cities, limit the access of private cars in the city central areas, increase parking tariffs and provide comfortable park-and-ride facilities.

The guaranteed quality of public trans-port (clean, sufficient frequency, strict time-tables, optimised line network,) at-tracts the new users and promotes the al-ternative to using private cars.

Pricing of the public transport is the most efficient tool to achieve the modal shift for medium and low income popula-tion.

Line network tallinn

PT priority corridors today

Source: ‘Steps towards free public transport in Tallinn’, Taavi Aas Deputy mayor

MetroPoLitan

42

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

have received funding for that and we have ordered 15 new low-floor trams by 2015 to guarantee the quality of the service.

The centre of Tallinn is standing at the narrow strip between the sea and the lake. To make the commuting better we are fi-nalising the big development works on East-West circle road with remarkable EU co-financing this year. The planned invest-ments in the fleet of public transport are continuously growing and are supporting the target of Tallinn to be rewarded the European Green Capital nomination for 2018. Sustainable public transport is one highlight of our application.

Railway PRO: From the point of view of free public transport services, can Tallinn become an example for the other European capitals?

Tõnu Karu: Our aim has been first of all to provide the best possible service for our own residents but is nice that our initiative has wider context. Tallinn free public transport system development has been extensively covered by international media.

We have learned from the experience of some European cities like Hasselt (BE) and Aubagne (FR) and the Chinese city Chengdu. We are sure that our system will be sustainable and we are ready to share our experience with all interested parties in Europe and wider (overseas).

To share the best practice, Tallinn is one of the initiators of the European Free Pub-lic Transport Cities Network. This network could serve as the focal centre of informa-tion on this innovative urban practice for all European municipalities and regions.

Economic aspects - the people can find and take the jobs in areas far from their homes without caring for transport costs and so their participation in productive work increases the tax basis for the mu-nicipality.

Free public transport stimulates con-sumers’ activity, they can find the needed goods and services in different parts of the city without extra transport costs. Savings from transport are spent for local goods and services thus activating the economy.

Environmental aspects - the first three months of free public transport has proved the considerable improvement of the city environment. The number of cars in the city centre has decreased about 15%, we can forecast the amount of CO2 pollution decreasing about 45 000 tons in 2013 al-ready. The main crossings are less congest-ed and the noise level at the main streets decreased.

Railway PRO: Do these free public transport services refer to all categories of citizens and cover all public transport modes in Tallinn (bus, tram, trolleybus, train and ferry services)?

Tõnu Karu: The free public transport is available only for all registered residents of Tallinn. They get their personal contact-less travel card for 2 € and validate every trip when travelling in municipal buses, trams and trolleybuses.

The people who are not residents of Tallinn can buy the travel card and load it with money in the service centres or via internet.

Railway PRO: The delivery of free pub-lic transport services has attracted many critics to local authorities consisting main-ly in economic criteria, such as the city budget, or as the local press reported, free transport could embezzle funds from oth-er cities with higher needs. As representa-tive of Tallinn to the European Union, can you explain this situation to us?

Tõnu Karu: As said before, the decision

of Tallinn City Council about introducing free public transport is based on the refer-endum and now accepted by all political parties in the Council. It means that pos-sible future power shifts in the Council are not able to change it easily.

The initial critics have vanished and the first months of free public transport prove that the decision was right.

Tallinn Public Transport company is the municipal enterprise financed fully by the municipality, therefore this innovation does not harm any other cities.

Railway PRO:Of course that this poli-cy of free public transport services also in-cludes the situation/problem of budget. Is it possible that the implementation of the project would reduce the budget of public transport development? If the budget al-located to this sector is smaller, how will investment funds be covered?

Tõnu Karu: Since the beginning of 2012 until April 2013 about 9000 new residents have been registered in Tallinn. Every 1000 residents bring about 1 mil-lion euros of personal income tax to the City budget. Merging two public transport companies gives the city extra savings and we can follow the additional income from increasing economic activity to cover the costs of free public transport.

Tallinn economic situation is fairly healthy, we do not foresee any cuts for the public transport development budget.

Railway PRO: Talking about invest-ments, can you tell us what the public transport development strategy (espe-cially tram) in the capital of Estonia is and what are the investments envisaged in the development plan of the entire transport system?

Tõnu Karu: The aim of Tallinn pub-lic transport development strategy is to provide better and extensive service to the residents and our guests. Our biggest project in sustainability development is reconstruction of the longest tramline. We

Недавние оценки показывают, что Решение о предоставлении бесплатного общественного транспорта в таллине оказалось правильным

Эстония является одной из европейских стран, которые в последние годы пытается адаптироваться к новым тенденциям социально-экономического роста, пытаясь удовлетворить потребности в развитии и модернизации новым революционным способом. Это также касается политики бесплатного предоставления услуг общественного транспорта в столице Таллине. По предварительным оценкам, данная мера привела к увеличению доли общественного транспорта, и впоследствии пассажиры предпочитают пользоваться общественным транспортом. - Интервью с Тону Кару, представитель Таллина при Европейском Союзе.

PT priority area in the future

Source: ‘Steps towards free public transport in Tallinn’, Taavi Aas Deputy mayor

MetroPoLitan

43

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

of the other two existing bridges between the Garipçe district (the European part) and the Poyrazköy district (the Asian part). The bridge will be 1.4km long and will be built on two levels. Thus, the superior level will have eight lanes for road traffic, four in each direction. The railways will be built on the inferior level of the bridge. The bridge will connect the new airport of Istanbul due in 2016. The new airport will be transited by 150 million passengers per year.

The transport network in Istanbul has de-veloped constantly in the last ten years; two new light rail networks have been built as well as a new rapid bus line. According to the Master Plan on Integrated Urban Trans-port (IUAP) 2009 – 2013, EUR 3 Billion have already been invested in public trans-port infrastructure. According to the same development plan, the authorities have committed to allocate another EUR 6.8 Bil-lion for the next ten years. The same group of financing includes Marmaray Tunnel as well. The transport plan for Istanbul 2020 will focus on the existing transport capacity (already significant), as well as on the un-derground, tram and Metrobus networks of the city so as to offer an efficient transport to participants. On average, the stations will

istanbul public transport is ready for the olympic Games 2020

In 2012, Istanbul hosted 9.5 million foreign tourists and the authorities expect over 10 million foreign tourists to visit the city this year. The same authorities also say that they are ready to provide an efficient public transport for the Organisation of the Olympic Games in 2020. Istanbul, together with Tokyo and Madrid, is one of the candidate cities for the organisation of the Olympic Games.

a lready the public transport city in Istanbul – a city with 16 million inhabitants – is very well organised

and new projects are in plan. The Govern-ment in Ankara announced they planned to allocate EUR 14.87 Billion to this complex sports event and the majority of funds will be dedicated to the improvement of public transport system between the European and Asian parts of the Istanbul. The funds allocated are three times higher than those estimated by Tokyo and Madrid together. The city on the banks of the Black Sea and Marmara Sea has a very efficient and easy to access rail transport system – tram and light rail. Also, the inauguration in October 2013 of Marmaray Tunnel is another plus of the public transport system in Istanbul.

Recently, on 29 May, Turkey announced the initiation of construction works to a new bridge across the Bosporus, the first one equipped with a railway line. 59-m wide, the bridge will be in fact the widest in the world and the third bridge to link the Asian part of Istanbul to the European part of the city. According to the Turkish Minister of Transport, Binali Yıldırım, the bridge could be functional starting with 2015. The bridge will be built in the north

[ by Elena Ilie ]

be less than one kilometre away of the re-spective accommodation, guaranteeing that 91% of the sportsmen’ journeys will take 30 minutes or less and will ensure an average journey time of only 16 minutes.

The Turkish Minister of Transport, Binali Yıldırım talked about how important would these public transport projects be for the future of Istanbul and stressed the fact that the projects would be continued whether Istanbul hosted or not the 2020 Olympic Games.

общественный транспорт в Стамбуле готов к проведению олимпийских игр 2020 года

В 2012 году в Стамбул приезжало 9,5 млн. иностранных туристов, а власти ожидают, что в этом году город будут посещать более 10 миллионов туристов. Те же власти говорят, что они готовы к организации Олимпийских игр 2020 года с точки зрения обеспечения эффективного общественного транспорта. Стамбул, наряду с Токио и Мадридом, является одним из городов-кандидатов на звание организатора Олимпийских игр. Давайте посмотрим, как они подготовились к обеспечению общественного транспорта!Source: wikipedia.org

Source: www.skyscrapercity.com

MarKet deVeLoPMent

44

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

these developments will intensify the declining trend in transport in-frastructure financing from govern-

ment budget, which, before the financial crisis, was to some extent compensated by an increase in private sector financing. The financing gap needs to be filled through combined efforts by the governments, the EU, financial institutions and through new capital market models and new pricing mechanisms, such as congestion pricing.

Poor transport infrastructure is an im-pediment to the economy. Numerous studies confirm the relationship between geographical accessibility and economic growth. In particular, a recent study, based on an example from Germany, shows that connection to the high speed rail network significantly increases the economic growth rate of cities. Business as usual is not a vi-able option: increasing transport costs for businesses will hamper economic growth,

the tight carbon constraint on the EU econ-omy will not be kept, and citizens will be restricted in their individual mobility and impoverished by more expensive access to goods and services.

Transforming transport and making it more efficient, cleaner, safer and more re-liable will not be possible with just a small number of selected interventions. Trans-port is a complex system that is based on the interaction of infrastructure, vehicles, information technology, rules and behav-iour. All these elements must be part of a common vision for change. A transforma-tion of transport is also a great opportunity for vehicle and equipment manufacturing industry and for logistic operators, since other regions of the world will face similar constraints on resources, while global de-mand for mobility keeps growing. The best technology will benefit from an expanding market for its commercialisation.

Public transport has to gain a higher share than today in the transport mix, become easily accessible for everyone and fully inte-grated with non-motorised modes (metro, light metro, tram).

technology doesn’t slow down integrated mobility, administrative barriers do

A worrying aspect in Europe is the age-ing of population which will force trans-port services to adapt to a growing eld-erly population. People aged over 65 will represent 29% of the total population by 2050, compared to 17% today, says the European Commission. In the European Union, around 1 person out of 6 has dis-abilities. The quality, reliability, safety and accessibility, especially for disabled people, as well as public transport safety, will be essential for a better use of public

increase of transport costs prevents economic development

The cost of infrastructure development in the European Union, necessary to meet the transport demand, was estimated at over EUR 1.5 Trillion for the period 2010-2030. However, in the years and decades to come, it will be more and more difficult to find means of investing in the transport infrastructure. The aging of population means that the highest value of resources will be absorbed by social insurance costs. Moreover, the economic crisis in 2008-2009 affected public budgets and private loans to a great extent. The economic recession period will be followed by long consolidation processes.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Source: Guidelines For Its Deployment In Urban Areas, Traffic Management, Urban ITS Expert Group

Population pyramids in the EU-27, by age groups and sex (2008 and 2060)

MarKet deVeLoPMent

14

A S U S T A I N A B L E F U T U R E F O R T R A N S P O R T

26. The 2008 TERM Report (23) of the European Environment Agency, which provides indicators tracking transport and environment in the EU, shows that many Europeans still remain exposed to dangerously high levels of air and noise pollution. In particular, the concentration of PM10, of which transport is the second most important source, exceeds the 2005 limit value in many air quality zones. Also pollution from shipping emissions of NOx and SOx needs to be addressed.

27. Transport itself will suffer from the effects of climate change and will necessitate adaptation measures. Global warming resulting in a rising sea level will amplify the vulnerability of coastal infrastructures, including ports (24). Extreme weather events would affect the safety of all modes. Droughts and floods will pose problems for inland waterways (25).

3.4. Increasing scarcity of fossil fuels

28. In the coming decades, oil and other fossil fuels are expected to become more expensive as demand increases and low-cost sources dry up. The negative impact on the environ-ment will be greater, as conventional sources are replaced by more polluting supplies. At the same time, the need to move to a low-carbon economy and the growing concerns about energy security will bring about a greater supply of renewable energy, made much cheaper by technological progress and mass production.

29. The shift in relative prices will make investments in alterna-tive energy sources more attractive, in spite of the high vari-ability of those prices. The need to establish supporting infrastructures and the long life span of vehicles will delay the transition process.

The ageing of the EU population can be illustrated by the population pyramids shown in Figure 5. As life expectancy rises and fertility rates remain low, the top of the pyramid becomes larger, while its base and middle part shrink. Recent demo-graphic projections show that in 2060 there will be only two active workers for every pensioner. Due to the adverse impact of ageing and the drop in the working-age population, a decline of average annual economic growth rates is projected — with current policies — falling from 2.5 % in recent years to 1.3 % from 2030 to 2060. Age-related public expenditure such as pensions, health care and long-term care will increase substantially by 2060. This underlines the need for the trans-port sector to increase its contribution to EU competitiveness.

Figure 5: Population pyramids in the EU-27, by age groups and sex (2008 and 2060)

Source: European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, ‘2009 ageing report’, European Economy, 2/2009. Specific pyramid source: Eurostat, Europop 2008.

0 05 510 1015 15 20 20

Age groups

EU-27: 2060 Population by age groups and sex

>9995-9990-9485-8980-8475-7970-7465-6960-6455-5950-5445-4940-4435-3930-3425-2920-2415-1910-14

5-90-4

Males Females

Millions

0 05 510 1015 1520 20

>9995-9990-9485-8980-8475-7970-7465-6960-6455-5950-5445-4940-4435-3930-3425-2920-2415-1910-14

5-90-4

Males FemalesAge groups

EU-27: 2008 Population by age groups and sex

Millions

The ageing challenge: growing needs, fewer resources

(23) EEA, ‘Transport at a crossroads’, TERM 2008, No 3/2009.(24) Commission staff working document accompanying the White Paper

‘Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action’ (SEC(2009) 387).(25) IPCC (2007), ‘Fourth assessment report’.

45

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

series of issues which still exist in the mar-ket and in the regulation. Regulation barri-ers in accessing a market, technical incom-patibilities between transport modes and even the inappropriate or obsolete legisla-tion are among the greatest challenges.

Both the Commission and the European Parliament hope that the adoption of the Fourth Railway Package would help har-monise railway passenger transport servi-ces in the EU and stimulate the sustainable and integrated mobility in the macro-re-gion and in metropolitan areas.

The Commission has recently published a study on the available regulation alterna-tives for opening the domestic passenger transport markets. The study concludes that the real market opening will have a major positive impact on the railway sec-tors across the EU. Evidence supports the Commission’s opinion according to which the market opening will trigger innova-tion and improved quality and therefore, a higher number of passengers.

увеличение транспортных расходов препятствует экономическому развитию

Стоимость развития инфраструктуры в странах Европейского Союза для удовлетворения спроса на перевозки была оценена в размере 1,5 триллиона евро на период с 2010 года по 2030 год. Тем не менее, в ближайшие годы и десятилетия будет всё труднее найти способы инвестирования в транспортную инфраструктуру. Старение населения означает, что большая часть ресурсов будет поглощена расходами на социальное обеспечение. Кроме того, экономический кризис 2008-2009 годов серьезно сказался на государственных бюджетах и частных кредитах. После завершения периода экономического спада потребуется длительный процесс восстановления.So

urce

: wik

imed

ia.o

rg

transport. For most of the citizens in the European

Union, personal transport modes will however remain the only alternative due to the complexity of their daily journeys. Us-ing vehicles that are more efficient in terms of consumption will be a necessity.

Town planning, access regulation includ-ing low emission zones, stricter controls on parking, pricing policies and alternative forms of accessibility could significantly

influence mobility choice.Promoting better modal choices will

require greater integration of the modal networks: airports, ports, railway, metro and bus stations, car hire spots and park-ing areas, should increasingly be merged and conceived as multimodal connection platforms for passengers.

The development of a properly-integrat-ed transport system (such as creating a sin-gle railway area) is currently delayed by a

MarKet deVeLoPMent

46

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

train. Railway stations, integrated to other open and attractive public spaces and eco-friendly pedestrian ways will attract users and will maintain passenger traffic.

rail stations, as multifunctional urban hubs

The criteria for the station or stations located on a high-speed network in a given city must consider the optimal requirements of city and citizens, as well as those specific to the railway system. A functional design is absolutely essential, and parallel business activities are a common feature of high speed stations. Apart from services inside railway stations, the intermodal component, meaning the connection of the rail station to the city centre and airports, is very important, mainly if the link is created with the help of rail transport as well. The perception of rail stations as “disturbing” architectural structures inside cities is no longer valid.

railway stations are a crucial aspect of every railway journey, so it is vi-tal for the facilities they offer to be

designed in a way that meets the needs of each passenger. The problems that railway station managers are faced with are related to the way in which these railway stations can become more attractive for passen-gers, provide more accessible and more eco-friendly services or efficient methods through which railway stations can gene-rate profits. Railway stations have to be at-tractive and meet the expectations of pas-sengers and retail customers. Most of the times, the railway station is the first image associated with the idea of railway trans-port. They have to transform, just like air-ports, into profit-generating hubs.

What can we say about the central posi-tion of a railway station? Many railway station locations are attractive as retail lo-cation, due to their high accessibility on regional scale, but whether they have the real effect on the distribution of retail loca-tion still needs to be investigated. One of the acute problems that railway managers are confronted with is the liberalisation of

the railway passenger transport services on long distances, an activity initiated in 2010 in most West-European countries. Thus, railway station managers will have to prove their impartiality with respect to all market players. New operators will de-mand their own ticketing facilities to meet the demands of their customers and the railway stations will have to provide almost the same facilities as airports: restaurants, shopping centres, modern waiting rooms.

Railway stations in Western Europe, such as those in Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, the Nether-lands are already providing customers with high-standard services that integrate in the urban landscape as profit-generating shop-ping centres and which are no longer seen as mere railway stations in the city centre.

The rapid development of the different transit systems has led to the modernisa-tion of railway stations along the crossed route. They have to be as aesthetically built or modernised as possible and to dispose of enough capacity to provide shelter for users. Passengers in transit need special places where they should wait for the next

Source: www.nshispeed.nl

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Вокзалы могут являться многофункциональными узлами города

Критерии для размещения вокзала или вокзалов для высокоскоростных линий в городах должны учитывать оптимальные требования города и граждан, а также специфические требования железнодорожной системы. Функциональный дизайн вокзала является абсолютно необходимым, в то время как возможность параллельного осуществления предпринимательской деятельности также является характерной особенностью станции высокоскоростных железных дорог. Помимо услуг, предоставляемых на территории вокзалов в развитых городах, также важны интермодальная составляющая и сообщение вокзала с центром города и аэропортами. Эффективнее, если соединение осуществляется с помощью железнодорожного транспорта. Вокзал больше не должен рассматриваться как препятствие, как архитектурное сооружение, «мешающее» образу города.

MarKet deVeLoPMent

W

N

S

E

Platform

1-2Platform

3-4Platform

5-6Platform

7-8Platform

9-10Platform

11-12Platform

13-14Platform

15-16

Platform

1a

Stuttgart HBF (Stuttgart, Germany)

Business lounge

Railteaminfo point

Info point

Internationalticket office

Car rental

Taxis

Bus

Underground

Gittertor

City, Arnulf-Klett-Platz

Waiting area

Paris-Gare du Nord

Phot

o: w

ikim

edia

.org

47

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

between the support granted to research, the increase of industry competitive-ness and the approach of challenges, be-ing structured into three different pillars which consolidate each other: excellence in science, industrial leadership and soci-etal challenges.

Срок предоставления финансирования в рамках стратегии «Горизонт 2020» сокращён на 100 дней

Осталось несколько месяцев до принятия Европейским парламентом и Советом законодательных документов по стратегии Горизонт 2020, а Комиссии потребуется шесть месяцев для подготовки программ работы и руководящих линий для заявителей. Начиная с января 2014 года будут запущены первые заявки.

По сравнению с предыдущими исследовательскими программами, Горизонт 2020 имеет более простую структуру, что позволит сократить срок предоставления грантовой поддержки на 100 дней, поэтому кандидаты смогут реализовать свои проекты быстрее.

For the execution of projects, from the budget necessary for Horizon 2020 (in the period 2014-2020)

amounting to EUR 88 Billion, EUR 7.7 Billion should be granted for research and innovation in the segment of smart, environmentally friendly and integrated transport.

Compared to the previous research programmes, Horizon 2020 has a sim-pler structure, which will determine the reduction of the period for granting the financing by 100 days and implicitly the applicants will manage to implement the projects much more quickly.

As Europe wishes to significantly reduce CO2 emissions (by 60% until 2050), and the transport sector generates over a quarter of emissions, it is clear that the entire transport system must be radically changed. This is the reason for which the transport sector is one of the six main chal-lenges related to the society approached within Horizon 2020.

“I want the transport industry to be a leading player in Horizon 2020. [It is] the backbone of an integrated, mobile econo-my. Horizon 2020 will address transport

as an integrated system but it will not ig-nore the specifics of the different modes of transport, particularly where we need to achieve technological breakthroughs. Actions will focus on four areas: resource-efficient transport; better mobility, less congestion, more safety and security; glo-bal leadership for the European transport industry; and forward-looking activities to feed into future policy making”, men-tioned Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Granting investments in the field of sus-tainable transport offers European com-panies a huge commercial opportunity; products and services related to sustaina-ble mobility will represent a global market of EUR 300 Billion in 2020.

Horizon 2020 represents the fair balance

Period for granting financing within the “horizon 2020” is reduced by 100 days

Several months are left until the adoption of the legislative documents on the Horizon 2020 strategy by the European Parliament and the Council (at the end of 2013), and the Commission will need 6 months for the preparation of the work scheme, guidelines for applicants and the implementation of structures for launching the first requests, in January 2014. But until this date, the programme for research and innovation must get through the negotiations of the multiannual budget 2014-2020. “Our purpose is to reach a consensus on Horizon 2020 to launch the first request for the implementation of projects within the programme”, declared the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

The proposed support for research and innovation under Horizon 2020 will:• Strengthen the EU’s position in science with a dedicated budget of € 24 598

million. This will provide a boost to top-level research in Europe, including an increase in funding of 77% for the very successful European Research Council.

• Strengthen industrial leadership in innovation € 17 938 million. This includes major investment in key technologies, greater access to capital and support for SMEs.

• Provide € 31 748 million to help address major concerns shared by all Euro-peans such as climate change, developing sustainable transport and mobility, making renewable energy more affordable, etc

Horizon 2020 will address transport as an integrated system. • Actions will focus on four areas:• Resource-efficient transport;• Better mobility, less congestion, more safety and security (this is where we

expect a cross-over between transport modes); • Global leadership for the European transport industry; and, • Forward-looking activities to feed into future policy making.

PoLicies & strateGies

48

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

the project identifies several key areas for ensuring an eco-efficiency transport: the energy system, non-polluting automotive vehicles, non-polluting trucks, intelligent logistics systems, integrating systems for booking and releasing tickets, increasing the share of railway and water transport, urban planning, ensuring the accessibility of mobility and changing the behaviour of transport services consumers.

One of the conclusions of the study shows that non-technological factors have many times prevented the development of eco-efficient transport. Therefore, the study shows that, although the increase of railway transport share is very necessary, it has not been achieved because it lacked of access to the needed technology”, ex-plained Adriana Ţicău, member of STOA,

the main five barriers to the deployment of sustainable transport

In 2012, the Department of Scientific and Technological Options Assessment – STOA – of the European Parliament dealt with projects assessing the impact of introducing and promoting new technologies and identified the best action technological methods for a sustainable and efficient transport, the sustainable management of natural resources and so on.

[ by Pamela Luică ]

out of 13 on-going projects, 6 were finalized and published in 2012 and for each of them STOA

published a final report and a summary in-cluding the identified options.

According to the report published in 2013 on urban transport, the STOA study was initiated in 2010 and carried out until February 2012 under the supervision of STOA Vice President Malcolm Harbour and TRAN Vice Chair Adriana Ţicău.

The final objective was to propose policy options for sustainable transport models, the final report stressing relevant aspects and methods for transition towards a sus-tainable transport system.

More than half of the EU population lives in urban areas, this being the reason why EU has proposed to ensure an appro-

priate air quality together with an efficient transport system. For this purpose, EU invests in many research and innovation projects capable to contribute to the foun-dation of future policies.

Just like the previous EU research pro-grammes, the programme for 2014-2020, “Horizon 2020” will prioritize the intel-ligent, non-polluting and EU-integrated transport.

“Within STOA, I have supervised two research transport projects <<Ur-ban Transport>> and <<Eco-efficient Transport>>. The latter has analysed several scenarios: the eco-efficiency of all transport modes, the redistribution of the share of each transport mode in the European transport and reducing the growth rates of transport volume. Also,

THE WIDER BLACK SEA AREA RAILWAY INVESTMENT SUMMIT

Join the summit for railway business champions

The Wider Black Sea Area (WBSA), a median area of the Eurasian platform, expands from

Central Asia to Central Europe and from Northern to Southern Europe and Asia Minor. The macro-area includes 28 dynamic railway

markets, a mixture of mature, developing and ascending markets, that bring about a

spectrum of opportunities across the railway sector.

8th edition8-9 October 2013

Bucharest, Romania

For further details please contact us:Tel.: +40(21) 224 43 85 / Fax: +40(21) 224 43 86 / E-mail: [email protected] www.railwaysummit.com

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

49

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

from structural and cohesion funds and from the European Investment Bank, the Commission plans to supply information on the connection between sustainable urban mobility measures and regional policy objectives, in conformity with the current national and community frame-work conditions. Several of the measures of the European action plan facilitate the development and the increase of the share of rail in urban transport. The action plan on urban mobility will be revised in the coming period”, declared Ţicău.

stoa: пять препятствий, стоящих на пути развития устойчивого транспорта

Департамент оценки научных и технологических возможностей (STOA) Европейского парламента в 2012 году занимался проектами, оценивающими влияние введения или продвижения новых технологий и выявляющими оптимальные варианты действия с точки зрения технологий, устойчивого и эффективного транспорта, устойчивого управления естественными ресурсами, наряду с другими направлениями.

Согласно отчету, опубликованному в 2013 году, было выявлено пять препятствий, стоящих на пути развития устойчивого транспорта.

nominated from the Committee on Trans-port and Tourism (TRAN).

The main five barriers to the deployment of sustainable transport are identified and formulated in the study including resource barriers (including financial and physical barriers, namely budget restrictions or geographic structures), institutional or political barriers (problems related to ac-tions coordinated or not between different governmental organisations or political problems), but also legal barriers (regard-ing the alignment of laws and regulations to provide the right conditions for creat-ing a sustainable urban transport). Next to these three hindrances, the STOA study identifies other two problems referring to the social and cultural segments (the ac-ceptance of measures by the citizens, es-

pecially non-poplar measures such as re-stricting individual motorised transport, which is often rejected) and side effects which can have serious repercussions on other activities and which can complicate the implementation of projects (traffic calming could also cause inconveniences to public transport).

Among the initiated policies, the EU en-courages the development of public trans-port which ensures not only the accessi-bility of services, but also the significant reduction of pollution generated by trans-port, the ambitious long-term objectives being shifting 50% of medium-distance freight and passenger traffic to railway and water transport which can reduce emissions by 60% until 2050. “Regarding urban transport, I would like to mention that a directive on promoting less pollut-ing vehicles in urban public transport has been adopted since 2010.

Member States can also use state aids to develop eco-efficient urban transport. For example, cities such as Prague have mod-ernised their fleet of vehicles and other European cities have upgraded their fleet of trams using state subsidies to cover up to 66% of the cost of such modernisa-tions”, added Ţicău.

Also, using the Action Plan on urban mo-bility, EC supports local authorities in the development of sustainable urban mobil-ity programmes and “in order to increase the information on the available financing

The International Union of Railways participates to the development of railway transport and of freight-dedicated international corridors. Railway transport connects countries, but also continents and cohesion is given by the number of railway projects, such as infrastructure modernization, building new lines, modernization of railway equipments, new rolling stock or research in the field. Recent studies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have shown that the necessary investments in transport by 2030 amount to USD 11.3 Billion, 44% of which would be directed to railway transport (USD 5 Trillion).

European freight corridors, the new transport network in Brazil, the Russian projects, and the network in Central Asia or in the Basin of Mekong River, all these projects will revive railway transport. All indicators show that, despite the economic recession, by 2015, cargo transport could increase by 18%, while passenger transport by 80%. By 2020-2040, over two billion people will move to the city, so it will be necessary to find mobility solutions for urban and suburban routes and rail transport plays an important role here. Railways are every day more involved in urban development and from the point of view of investments it is very important that the accent will fall on intercity, suburban and high-speed trains.

All intra-European corridors, those linking Europe to Asia and Middle East, need improvement, because they boost interoperability. I’m glad that we can now talk about the Black Sea transport links. UIC has discussed the matter with the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Turkey will soon inaugurate the section Baku – Tbilisi – Kars, which is a plus for the link between the two continents and which will definitely increase the share of railway transport. At present, the key word is interoperability, also between continents, not only between European countries. Also, another key factor for cohesion is solving technical and administrative problems. Cohesion has to be at the core of the railway development policy. Security and safety are also important. UIC is thus interested in studies of the development projects elaborated by other profile associations, such as OSJD. However, the railway transport sector is currently fragmented and market players are facing problems in observing administrative separation principles. Therefore, railway transport needs an improved harmonisation of technical and administrative rules both in Europe and Asia which will facilitate and ease cross-border operations.

There are several efficient solutions for this, among which satellite tracking systems, development of new international hubs, the mapping of the network, new data bases or the development of each data base of the authorities, a better standardisation of specific regulations in Europe, Asia and the 1520 Area, development of new transport corridors and new integration and charging systems. Most new transport corridors between Europe and Middle East from East to West and North to South, also the new corridors linking Europe and Africa, as well as the key role of the Mediterranean hubs, all these, next to the major corridors which cross Europe (IV,V,IX and X) are key elements for development and territorial cohesion.

Media Partners:

CITY ON THE MOVEMetropolitan

Club Railway PROthe railway business magazine

Organisers:

INNOVATIVE RAILWAYS. COMPETITIVE BUSINESS

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, director General – uicspeech from the previous edition of railway days

14 European Technology Assessment GroupITAS DBT FCRI ISI IST ITA TC RathenauETAG

Modal Split Passengers

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

(com

putedon

pkm

)

modal share passengers % (2050)

Slow

Air

Train

Bus

Car

| Jens Schippl | ITAS, KIT | 07.05. 2013

Modal Split Passengers

Source: Jens Schippl (KIT- ITAS)

PoLicies & strateGies

50

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Although EU encourages the development of rail urban transport as the answer to challenges related to the noise level, air quality, accidents, congestion, etc., by research and innovation projects, the development of electric transport as individual transport mode is encouraged as well. “We must continue the innovation programmes which contribute to reaching the objective of emission reduction, removing gradually the conventional vehicles and increasing the usage of electric vehicles and public transport”, declared the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas at the launch of the Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership, programme which aims at implementing the projects in the field of energy, transport and information technology whose financing will be much higher (compared to previous years) starting with this year.

индивидуальный электрический транспорт не может представлять собой угрозой для транспорта на рельсах

Несмотря на то, что ЕС поощряет развитие городского транспорта на рельсах в ответ на вызовы, возникшие в связи с уровнем шума, качества воздуха, транспортных происшествий, пробок и т.д., инновационные и исследовательские проекты направлены также на поощрение и развитие электрического транспорта как индивидуальный вид транспорта. Вызовы данного вида транспорта все еще слишком велики для того, чтобы справляться с существующей потребностью в плане мобильности, тем более в контексте, когда необходимо строительство соответствующей инфраструктуры. Важным элементом также является стоимость электрических автомобилей, которая все еще слишком высока для потребителей.

individual electric transport cannot be a threat for rail urban transport

but “the electric transport service provision will indeed need to be situated in an area that is comple-

mentary to the private car market (in which electric vehicles can also play a specific role). Several urban rail service providers see the opportunity of capitalizing on their knowledge about power management and procurement to establish EV based serv-ices, as feeder and last mile solutions for ur-ban rail services”, Ivo Cré, Project Manager – POLIS.

Nevertheless, the introduction of electro-mobility is a complex process which in-volves great challenges for the authorities, as regards the organisation of the necessary infrastructure and consumers. The devel-opment of this transport mode implies the radical change of the entire transport system, especially in urban areas, but also legislative and political regulations.

One thing is clear: the fact that all EU

policies are heading to power consump-tion. Will the electric system be capable to cover the necessary quantity and the power costs until the development of new smart transport systems or is the development of rail urban transport the most viable re-sult? “I do not consider electric vehicles are a threat for rail urban transport, especially since the concept of smart cities has devel-oped in Europe and has encouraged public transport. Likewise, in the field of medium and long distance transport, EU’s objective is the encouragement of railway transport. In addition, electric vehicles require the de-velopment of a power supply infrastructure (such as the use of renewable energy sourc-es at local level), investments for making electric batteries efficient (at present their performance is below 18%), investments in research and innovation related to electric or hybrid vehicles etc. Another important element is the price of electric or hybrid ve-

hicles which is still very high”, stated TRAN Vice Chair, Adriana Ţicău.

The STOA report on the eco-efficient transport mentions the fact that a transition is needed for a more sustainable transport system which must face recent challenges and the anticipated ones on the evolutions of the transport sector. According to the conclusions based on the works elaborated so far, the scenarios for the EU eco-efficient transport have already been designed. “The scenarios indicate key factors which pro-vide information related to different trans-port modes including calculations on the innovations of the environmentally friendly transport which comprise technologies for energy efficiency optimisation, alternative fuels, propulsion technologies (especially electric vehicles and biofuels)”, indicated the report.

MarKet deVeLoPMent

Source: www.eea.europa.eu

Energy consumption (million terajoules)

Road gasoline

Road diesel

Biogasoline

Biodiesel

Natural gas

LPG

Rail electricity

Rail gas/diesel oil

Aviation kerosene

Ship gasoline

Ship diesel/gas oil

Ship residual fuel oil

Other

Oil derived fuels

0

5

10

15

20

1990 1995 2000 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

70 % reduction of 2009 oil consumption

[ by Pamela Luică ]

51

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

transport?Ivo Cré: Studies say that by 2015, about

100 million Europeans will use smart phones. By then they will also double the use of mobile websites and applications. Overall in apps development, transport oriented applications (ranging from GPS routing to PT information) are popular. As stated above, the connected and informed traveller will use the smart phone (or other means to get connected) to find solutions to his travel problem. The most convincing solution in terms of availability, price, reli-ability etc. will win. Urban public transport can have all the advantages the connected traveller is looking for.

Railway PRO: How does smart ticketing answer to sustainable mobility needs in ur-ban regions?

Ivo Cré: Smart ticketing has several ad-vantages: It can facilitate the distribution of revenue between different operators; it creates (as good as) free flow conditions in interchanges and in vehicles; it provides interesting data about travel patterns and interchange between modes and vehicles, enabling the network planners to improve the service, by through-linking lines etc; for the traveller the use of the system becomes easier. He does not have to worry about ticketing and fares; the system also allows to package additional transport services into one smart card, thus expanding travel options for the passenger.

For example, the advantages of wire-less technologies have convinced 73.4% of the world population to

use such technologies, the number of wire-less users soaring to 5 billion in 2010. This made the market of smart phones increase by 79.7% in the first half of 2011. In the transport system, these technologies and solutions mean increasing the role of the information delivered to the permanently connected passengers, the use of mobility services in a complex and seamless trans-port system as regards the interaction of information to transport networks.

Therefore, public service suppliers have to develop an offer which relies on the con-cept of “connected passenger”, offer that would include a combination of innovative services and the optimisation of the exist-ing services leading together to complex information delivery.

The wide-spreading of smart applications, including payment methods and informa-tion access, will facilitate the use of pub-lic transport vehicles, will increase public transport share, will change people’s behav-iour and will innovate the entire transport system.

To find out more about the necessity of modern technologies in delivering public transport services and about the importance of implementing new concepts, Ivo Cré, Project Manager – POLIS, has agreed to de-tail these facts in an interview.

Railway PRO: Many companies develop technologies and solutions to make connec-tions efficient and to develop the intermo-dality of public transport, but their launch also means to change the lifestyle of citizens.

How can the citizens be persuaded to change their lifestyle by embracing technology and what are the methods for attracting an in-creasing number of passengers towards ur-ban public transport rather than cars?

Ivo Cré: The EU FP7 research project NODES established a vision for intermo-dality for passenger transport. In this sur-vey, all stakeholders in intermodality, being researchers, passengers, local authorities and operators, refer to the passenger as ‘the connected traveller’. This connected travel-ler concept is the result of two processes: the individual is getting more acquainted with hi-tech in his daily life (e.g. digital natives) and the transport environment is embracing information technology con-cepts that are established in other sectors. Specific technological applications such as geo-referencing become common in day-to-day activities. In my opinion the tech-nology will reinforce rather than change societal trends in transport. An example is for instance the inclusion of shared modes (public bicycles, shared vehicles) within the intermodal chain. This is a trend that has started well before smartphones were around. New technologies make the sys-tems more flexible, and more intuitive and enable the realisation of the driving societal trend, namely the transition from an own-ership-based economy towards a service/experience based economy.

With this view that technology will rather reinforce, facilitate societal trends rather than changing lifestyles, it should also be said that the potential of inducing modal shift by means of these systems should not be overestimated. Individuals will look for these technologies and applications that solve particular problems. Public transport information systems as such might not be advanced enough to create the basis for mo-dal shift. Instruments that create portfolios of mobility solutions, including PT, shared modes, parking etc. might work better.

Railway PRO: New technologies use the applications of smartphones. How many passengers are using this device for public transport applications? To what extend do they answer to mobility needs to encour-age the increasing market share of public

intelligent technologies play major role in new connections and intermodality

Connectivity and intermodality are key factors for boosting the attractiveness and development of public transport and new technologies and solutions definitely have a say. The continuous development of technology launches many challenges for both passengers, who change their mobility behaviour and needs, and for the operators who are confronted with the amendment of systems regarding the provisions of services which impact on public transport development.

Products & technoLoGies

[ by Pamela Luică ]

умные технологии играют жизненно важную роль для новых методы сообщения и интермодальности

Методы сообщения и интермодальность - это ключевые факторы повышения привлекательности и развития общественного транспорта, а здесь новые технологии и решения имеют важное значение. Для того, чтобы получить больше сведений о необходимости современных технологий для предоставления транспортных услуг и о важности внедрения новых концепций, Руководитель проекта ПОЛИС, Иво Кре.

52

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

categories such as the costs for the specifi-cation and the development of a new tick-eting system (consultant, involvement of transport operators), software for integrat-ed ticketing systems (for connecting the systems of different operators, instrument based on the internet for subscriptions, software for the user with an interface that is easy to understand), equipments for ve-hicles, stops and stations (antennae, ticket vending machines, ticket validation ma-chines) and maintenance costs of equip-ments.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

интегрированный тикетинг для умных городов

Улучшение общественного пассажирского транспорта и повышение качества обслуживания в данной сфере является ключевым фактором для достижения устойчивого развития города с социальной, экономической и экологической точки зрения. Общественный транспорт, которым граждане могли дорожить и пользоваться, не думая об альтернативах индивидуального транспорта, может быть достигнут различными способами в зависимости от местных условий, финансовых ресурсов, а также от национальных и местных политик.

MarKet deVeLoPMent

while some time ago we have referred to a public transport system as being efficient as

long as we benefited from the tramway, the underground, potentially the bus and their correlation – at present we wish an efficient public transport which could of-fer us integrated ticketing solutions. Of course we want it to reduce the time we spend in traffic as much as possible.

The basis for fares should be transpar-ent and easy to understand. Tickets and payment facilities should be widely avail-able, for example sales points distributed throughout the city, ticket vending ma-chines at various places (park and ride stations, main bus stops or on-board), on the internet (subscription for smart card holders) and via mobile phones.

Integrated ticketing and tariff policies between different public transport op-erators (local public transport and the na-tional railway) should be offered to make tickets valid for all public transport modes and for a whole region. Easy and attrac-tive payment methods should be offered. For example, innovative smart card sys-

tems can be implemented, which can be used for contactless payment of integrated fares. They may also serve as an important element of public transport marketing. Smart payments can also provide valuable data on the behaviour and mobility pat-terns of users.

Many potential benefits from public transport ticketing measures were ex-plored during CIVITAS II, a project which benefits from the support of the European Union.

The ease and convenience of the pur-chase permitted by innovative ticket-ing systems in a city should attract more public transport passengers, resulting in fewer private cars entering the urban area. The accessibility of public transport in ge- neral is enhanced with the introduction of a ticket valid for all types of services and vehicles.

Costs vary greatly depending on the type of the implemented system, on the number of ticket vending/validation machines, as well as on the number of vehicles which must be equipped with the new technolo-gies. Nevertheless, we must consider costs

integrated ticketing for smart cities

The improvement of the passenger public transport and of the quality of this service is a key factor for obtaining sustainable urban development from the social, economic and environmental points of view. A public transport which the citizens would appreciate and use without thinking about the individual alternative can be obtained by different means depending on the local context, financial resources and national and local policies.

Expert Group on Urban ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) (E02520) Page 15 of 33

Operators Customers Government

Source: Mark Streeting

Introduction of Smart Ticketing Systemsstrategic developments in Europe

PTCities

Parking

Rent a Bike

Car-sharing

LoyaltyBanks Service providing

Mul

timod

ality

City

-ser

vices

PTLong distance

PTRegion

Interoperability

Access

Source: VDV-KA-KG

Strategic developements City-services Interoperability Multimodality Service providing

Travelfacilities

Swimmingpool

Parking

Library

Source: VDV-Core Application

Multimodal and/or multifunctional Smart Ticketing can be very attractive for the final user; the organisational aspects of such schemes shouldn’t however be underestimated. The number of stakeholders will increase and this means the need for a strong coordination.

Smart Ticketing needs to reside in a “Secure Element” (this can be a bankcard, a mobile phone or a USB-Key). The additional Roles and Use Cases for multi-application Smart Ticketing include the Secure Element Provider, its Issuer and Registrar, and the Trusted Service Manager that oversees the relationship with the customer and loads and deleted Applications securely.

Source: European Commission

53

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

The policies and measures defined in a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) should address comprehensively all modes and forms of transport in the entire urban agglomeration, including public and private, passenger and freight, motorised and non-motorised, moving and parking.

integration and coordination of public transport policies

such a mobility plan has to rely on a long-term vision for the develop-ment of transport and mobility of

the entire urban agglomeration. A Sustain-able Urban Mobility Plan focuses on creat-ing a sustainable urban transport system by facilitating the access of people to jobs and services, improving safety and security, re-ducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the excessive energy consumption, increasing cost-efficiency for the transport of people and freight and increasing the at-tractiveness and quality of the urban envi-ronment.

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is a method of approaching transport-related problems in urban areas. Starting from the practices and regulations existing in Mem-ber States, its basic characteristics have to follow and apply a participative approach, a pledge for sustainability, an integrated approach, a clear vision, appropriate objec-tives and targets, as well as a review of trans-port costs and benefits.

“Through an appropriate citizen and stakeholder involvement, decisions for or against specific urban mobility measures as well as the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan itself can obtain a significant level of “public legitimacy”, show the guidelines on the im-plementation of such a mobility plan.

In many situations, the development of a plan is dictated by a department for urban mobility or transport. However, the rel-evance of the policies for elaborating the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is not limited to mobility and transport, its scope also including implication in the planning process of local and regional departments (dedicated to land planning, environment, economic development and social inclu-sion). It is a true challenge to solve the in-tegration and cooperation deficits, but at the same time it is the main source for in-novation and improvement. The European Commission seeks to accelerate the large scale implication in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans of the local and regional au-

thorities in Europe by wide range informa-tion on the scope, content and advantages of these plans.

The European cities have implemented a series of sustainable mobility plans, either referring to urban rail transport, bus trans-port or the development of new bicycle lanes and pedestrian areas. All plans aimed to reduce car dependency and to eliminate cars from the city centre are important for the citizens of a city and for its image.

Among the cities which implemented such sustainable mobility plans there is Koprivnica (Croatia), Budapest, Odense (Denmark), Paris, Lille, Timişoara, Cluj – Napoca, Oradea, Cambridge, London, Gent, Porto, Brno, Toulouse, Zagreb, Eind-hoven, Aachen, Erfurt, Zaragoza, Turku, Helsinki, Örebro (Sweden), Nottingham, Sheffield, Parma, to name just a few.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

интеграция и координация политик общественного транспорта

Политики и мероприятия, включенные в План устойчивой городской мобильности (SUMP), должны касаться всех видов и форм транспорта всего городского населения,

в том числе общественного и частного транспорта, пассажирских и грузовых перевозок, с двигателем или без двигателя.

Photo: Cycling Embassy of Denmark

MobiLity

Phot

o: w

ikim

edia

.org

54

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

port operator could be bought. The project authors say the method presented in the second scenario is used by many European cities with minimum investments.

In December 2012, the Western Bal-kans Investment Framework (WBIF) an-nounced it would carry out a feasibility study and the preliminary design of the tram lines. The money for the study, worth EUR 750,000, was allocated by the Euro-pean Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-opment.

According to the latest data, the Govern-ment in Prague announced in 2012 that it would consider all the alternatives for granting financing for the construction of the rail transport system in Tirana.

under the plan proposed by the municipality, the two tram lines will intersect in the İskender Bey

square. The current public transport system in Tirana is made of ten bud lines served by 250 to 260 buses every day. The develop-ment of the tram network will provide an easier access to the city centre and beyond to necessary facilities, such as leisure areas or jobs without using personal vehicles.

Apart from the social benefits of a tram transport system – significant if we con-sider the sustainability of an eco-friendly urban transport – the municipality in Ti-rana believes that the investment will be profitable. Therefore, when developing profitability studies, the project should be considered as an investment through which the investor should obtain profit at the end of the previously established peri-od of time which is generally 25 years, after deducting the expenses and the effects of inflation, shows the project proposed by the municipality in Tirana.

Based on the conditions imposed by the economic recession, but also by the diffi-culty of identifying considerable financial resources, two possible scenarios have been considered for the tram transport system. Therefore, the construction of the entire project is planned (tram infrastruc-ture and civil engineering) by purchasing new vehicles and, the second scenario, the construction of the entire project (tram in-frastructure and civil engineering), but this time using second-hand rolling stock.

According to the first scenario, the total cost of the project was estimated at EUR 130 Million, where 35% of the funds would be necessary for the acquisition of new trams, 32% of funds would go to civil en-gineering, 15% to depots and maintenance facilities, 12% to power supply systems and construction of catenaries and 6% to sig-nalling systems.

The second scenario estimates the ne-cessary funds at EUR 99 Million, if trams previously owned by other public trans-

tirana plans to develop two tram lines

Tirana, the capital of Albania, announced plans to build two tram lines to increase the efficiency of urban traffic in its metropolitan area inhabited by over 800,000 people.

In 2012, Tirana municipality published a report according to which a project on the construction of two tram lines was under evaluation. The tram lines would have a total length of 16.7 km. This is the estimated solution of urban traffic problems and the answer to the people’s mobility demands. The public transport in Tirana is, for now, focused only in the city centre, so that the people living in the suburbs have fewer or no public transport connections.

The municipality believes that pedestrian areas in the city centre will also be created with the construction of the tram lines.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

тирана планирует построить две трамвайные линии

Столица Албании Тирана объявила о том, что она планирует построить две трамвайные линии для повышения эффективности городского транспорта в метрополитенной части, население которой превышает 800 тысяч жителей. Муниципалитет Тираны в 2012 году опубликовал отчет, согласно которому разрабатывается проект строительства двух трамвайных линий общей продолжительностью 16,7 километров.

MetroPoLitan

4

3. LOCATION OF TRAMLINES ON STRATEGIC PLAN 2017 OF TIRANA

The tram lines proposed here solve the transportaion demand of the single centered city of

Tirana and to create pedestrian zones in city center together with the implementation of the

tramway system.

Figure 4 Traffic situation of city centre

The tram network are planned as two lines intersecting each other at İskender Bey Square.

TRACK 1- Qytet studenti – Bus Terminal 7200m

TRACK 2- Kombinat – Kinostudio 9500m

Current public transport system of the Tirana is shown in Figure 4. Existing transportation

system contains 10 bus lines. About 250 to 260 buses are daily in use to operate this network.

All lines are operated at least between 6h and 22h with frequencies varying from 3min (line 6)

to 10 min (busses 4, 5 and 10). There are currently about 400 licensed taxis in Tirana (and

about 340 taxi places laid out). There is currently no specific terminal for interurban bus

services.

Figure 5 Current public transport network

5

Figure 6 Proposed tram routes

With this tram network; most of the public will be able to reach to the city center, hospital,

recreation spots and workplaces without any necessity for private cars.

The walking distance to reach the stops/stations for rail systems is generally presumed to be

600m. The map showing the tram lines together with the walking distances are given in

Figure 7. In this figure, it can easily be observed that the tramway lines is potentially within

the reach of most of the citizens.

Figure 7 Minimum service area of proposed tramline (600m)

Proposed tram routes

Source: Tirana Municipality

Current public transport network

55

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

The metro network in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, is a vast network with four fully operational lines. The extension projects of the suburban transport network don’t stop at just four lines and there are plans for the construction of another two metro lines. But in order to achieve this, the authorities in Tehran are seeking financing sources. The costs of the new projects would amount to USD 2 Billion, money that the authorities hope to get from China.

tehran Metro seeks financing sources

the financial sanctions imposed to Iran had consequences, as prob-ably expected. One of the economic

branches affected by these sanctions is pub-lic transport; in fact, there are no available funds from the state budget to continue the projects for the extension of metro lines, projects initiated in 2007 and only partially finalized. The responsible authorities nego-tiate with China – government, banks, or financing institutions – to obtain a loan to continue projects and to provide efficient public transport services to the eight mil-lion people who live in Tehran.

“The authorities in Tehran initially wanted to build 430 kilometres of metro line with 256 stations; costs for these projects were estimated at USD 18 Billion. As a conse-quence of the applied sanctions, only 261 kilometres have received the green light for construction with 175 stations. Costs for these revised projects amounted to USD 10 Billion”, declared Mohammad Montaz-eri, Deputy General Director for Planning

and Logistics at Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Company, writes panarmenian.net, quoting Reuters.

Thus, the first part of the project for the extension of the metro network in the Ira-nian capital, with a length of 89 kilometres and 41 stations, is fully operational, while the second part of the project, including the extension by another 70 kilometres and 66 stations, is scheduled to be commissioned in 2013. The third part is the one confront-ed with financing problems. It includes the construction of 102 kilometres and 68 stations. If potential and reliable financing sources are identified, the third part of the project will be inaugurated in 2015. At the moment, the financing of current projects is ensured from private sources, 50%, and 50% from the state budget. Only in 2010, the Government in Tehran allocated funds necessary to the development of the un-derground network. Lines 1, 2, 4 and 5 are fully operational, while works on lines 3 and 7 are on-going. In September 2012,

80 new metro cars were introduced on the existing lines. The cars were manufactured by the local railway industry and their com-missioning was aimed at improving public transport and the access of citizens to this type of services. Tehran Metro carries 2.5 million passengers every day and is one of the most complex metro networks in Mid-dle East. Rail public transport projects are important in Iran and Mashad, Isfahan and Shiraz are another three important cities in Iran where metro networks are built.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

метро в тегеране находится в поисках источников финансирования

Сеть метро столицы Ирана Тегеран - это огромная структура с четырьмя магистралями, которые в настоящее время работают на полную мощность. Проекты расширения сети пригородного транспорта не останавливаются лишь на этих существующих четырех линиях, а они касаются строительства еще двух линий метро. Однако, для этого власти Тегерана находятся в поисках источников финансирования. Затраты на новые проекты финансирования составят два миллиарда долларов США. Власти страны надеются получить данные средства из Китая.

Source: www.tehran-metro.com

Phot

o: w

ww

.tehr

an-m

etro

.com

MetroPoLitan

56

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

“We think that this project has realistic chances of implementation but that could be done only within the inter-state framework and doesn’t depend only on us,” Vladimir Yakunin said last year at end of a visit in Armenia. “One of the most important ob-jectives of South Caucasus Railway is the integration in the transport system on the Europe-Asia axis, and this will be achieved through the company’s development at national level, the implementation of in-frastructure projects both at national and international level, as well as the efficiency and the increase of the quality of transport services”, declared Victor Rebets, CEO South Caucasus Railways, at the Railway Investment Summit in the Wider Black Sea Area 2012 - Railway Days, organised by Club Feroviar and AIF in October 2012.

At the beginning of the year, Armenian ex-perts said that Iran-Armenia freight transit would be profitable if the volume of freight between the two countries exceeds 3.5 mil-lion tonnes per year. Currently, the freight volume carried through the southern bor-der of Armenia with Iran doesn’t exceed 640,000 tonnes.

the Armenian and Iranian govern-ments officially approved the rail-way project in 2009, but they were

confronted with the problem of finding concrete financing sources for the railway that would cross most of the Armenian territory. According to an informal estima-tion, the project would need between USD 1 and 4 Billion.

Vladimir Yakunin insisted on the feasi-bility of the project although the return of the massive investments, necessary to the development of the railway, could take between 30 and 50 years. “If the project is launched, South Caucasus Railway will de-finitely participate in its implementation”, added Yakunin, referring to RZD’s subsidi-ary in Armenia.

After searching for reliable financing sources, such as potential investors and companies from Russia and China, the agreement has been signed with an Arab company, based in Dubai (UAE).

According to gulfnews.com, Rasia FZE, a company based in Dubai, has signed with

Armenia and Iran a third party agreement on building the Southern Armenia Railway. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the three parties includes another project, the development of a road high-speed con-nection, the cost of the two projects, railway and road, amounting to USD 3 Billion. The project will be developed based on a public-private partnership and the new line will be operated by South Caucasus Railway.

The line will be integrated in the core rail-way system of Armenia, as well as the link to the operation system in Iran which mostly has a standard 1435 mm gauge. Southern Armenia Railway will be a significant part of the North-South Corridor which will link the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.

Russia continues to remain interested in the ambitious project which concerns the construction of a connection railway be-tween Armenia and Iran despite some “is-sues” generated by the differences between the government in Tehran and the Western region, declared the head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin.

iran – armenia railway to facilitate new trade opportunities in the region

It is estimated that the new railway, Southern Armenia Railway – linking Iran and Armenia – will have 316 kilometres of simple electrified track. The railway will provide a connection between the town of Gavar, near Sevan Lake and the town of Meghri, in the south, located at the border with Iran. The implementation of the new project indicates Armenia’s decision of leaving the isolation which has actually been imposed to the country, but also Iran’s ambition to develop a series of railway projects on its territory and to have access to adjacent markets.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Железнодорожное сообщение иран - армения будет создавать новые возможности для торговли в регионе

Предполагается, что общая продолжительность новой железной дороги - Южноармянской железной дороги, которая будет соединять Иран и Армению - составит 316 километров простой электрифицированной железной дороги. Она осуществит соединение города Гавар, расположенного недалеко от озера Севан, с городом Мегри, расположенным на юге, на границе с Ираном. Внедрение нового проекта отражает решительность Армении выйти из изоляции, практически ей навязанной, но и стремления Ирана разработать ряд железнодорожных проектов на своей территории и получить доступ к соседним рынкам.

MarKet deVeLoPMent

Source: www.iranrail.net

57

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

FPc becomes member of the european system on rail passenger transport information services

[ by Pamela Luică ]

Federal Passenger Company (FPC), a RZD subsidiary, has received the right to use and supply data on traffic timetable, prices and services provided for rail passenger traffic within the European programme MERITS.

the multiple system for European railway traffic, MERITS (Multi-ple European Railways Integrated

Timetable Storage) contains information on the timetable data of 32 railway compa-nies (35,000 trains). In 2007, the railway companies signed the memorandum of understanding MERITS/PRIFIS (PRIce and Fare Information Storage) to set the terms and conditions for cooperation be-tween parties and in 2011-2012 the EC recommended railway undertakings to sup-ply data to third parties and the companies committed to provide all data by the end of 2012. Moreover, CER elaborated a busi-ness model to deliver information on the method of governing and delivering data to third parties. In September 2012, UIC decided to divide MERITS and PRIFIS in two so that, as of January 2013 the new memorandum MERITS could become ef-fective by delivering data to 2013. Starting with the second half of 2013, data delivery will be weekly (compared to monthly de-liveries until now). In this context, in the new MERITS formula, participants have

to supply all timetable data available in the company every week (or every month if not available). Information will contain data on delivery frequency and delivery in advance by two months of all possible traffic data. In exchange, they can access the entire MER-ITS database which is updated every week and which can be used unlimited in every system. Members can access the entire da-tabase or part of the MERITS data calcu-lated to third parties (based on a contract stipulating minimum conditions of use).

MERITS provides a multilateral data exchange (on timetables and prices), the companies providing information from the general data centre. Costs are significantly reduced by dividing development and op-eration costs and this system helps promote railway transport by easing the accessibility to the databases of all companies. Distribu-tion systems are easy to incorporate and customers receive correct and up-to-date information.

In order to promote the services and to benefit from the information provided by railway companies, the Russian rail passen-

ger transport operator, Federal Passenger Company (FPC) and RZD signed a mem-orandum of understanding in April 2013 entitling the former to use information about traffic and the cost of rail passenger transport within MERITS. The company will also be able to include its own routes, prices and timetables in the European Un-ion in the system.

“By signing this document, we have solved the problem of selling tickets valid from sta-tions along the whole route, as well as on parts of the route, within European coun-tries, on Federal Passenger Company trains, especially the Moscow - Berlin - Paris and Moscow - Nice services,” said Mikhail Aku-lov, Vice President of Russian Railways and CEO of the Federal Passenger Company.

“It has become easier for people from Rus-sia to buy tickets on European trains while they are in Russia. The UIC will do eve-rything possible in order to ensure coop-eration between the Russian and European systems,” said Mark Gugon, Senior Advisor for Passenger Transport to the International Union of Railways (UIC).

FPC will be able to use all applications starting with June 2013.

компания ФПк (Россия) стала членом европейской системы информации, связанной с услугами пассажирских перевозок

Федеральная пассажирская компания (ФПК), дочерняя компания РЖД, получила право на использование и предоставление данных о расписании движения поездов, ценах и услугах поставок железнодорожных пассажирских перевозок в рамках программы MERITS.

ФПК сможет пользоваться возможностями в полном формате начиная с июня 2013 года.

MarKet deVeLoPMent

NSB

DSB

PKPNS

CIE

ATOCDBAG

SNCB

EVR

BC

SJVR

LDZ

LG

NS

What’s in the box?

CH

SBB

RENFE

CFR

CD

BDZCP

SNCF ÖBB

CFLSNCB

ZSR

FSSZ HZ

MAV

JZ

CFM

CFARYMHSH

UZ

ZBH

E-business conference / Paris / 2012 October 19th

58

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Automation landscape- Key facts, figures and trends

statistics

Cities with automated metro lines, as of 2011

Unattended train automation is a widespread solution – 25 cities have opted for automated metros, in all 4 continents (fig. 1). The highest prevalence is in Asia and Europe (see fig. 2) but North America, and more recently South America and the Middle East are developing automated metro systems

Geographic distribution of automated lines, as of 2011

The 10 longest automated lines in operation, 2011 (length in km)

Page | 5

Automation landscape- Key facts, figures and trends

Unattended train automation is a widespread solution – 25 cities have opted for

automated metros, in all 4 continents (fig. 1). The highest prevalence is in Asia and Europe (see fig. 2) but

North America, and more recently South America and the Middle East are developing automated metro systems. Figure 1: Cities with automated metro lines, as of 2011.

Figure 2: Geographic distribution of automated lines, as of 2011

Asia 39%

Europe 33%

Middle East 13%

North America

13%

South America

2%

Apples and pears… the Atlas criteria

The indicated data correspond to:

UTO - Only metro lines without staff on board have been considered (GoA4 according to IEC 62267)

Public transport service - Private lines have been discarded (airport services, people movers, etc.)

Train capacity – Only trains with a minimum capacity of 100 passengers have been considered

Page | 5

Automation landscape- Key facts, figures and trends

Unattended train automation is a widespread solution – 25 cities have opted for

automated metros, in all 4 continents (fig. 1). The highest prevalence is in Asia and Europe (see fig. 2) but

North America, and more recently South America and the Middle East are developing automated metro systems. Figure 1: Cities with automated metro lines, as of 2011.

Figure 2: Geographic distribution of automated lines, as of 2011

Asia 39%

Europe 33%

Middle East 13%

North America

13%

South America

2%

Apples and pears… the Atlas criteria

The indicated data correspond to:

UTO - Only metro lines without staff on board have been considered (GoA4 according to IEC 62267)

Public transport service - Private lines have been discarded (airport services, people movers, etc.)

Train capacity – Only trains with a minimum capacity of 100 passengers have been considered

Page | 7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Singapore NEL

Vancouver Millenium L.

Copenhagen M1 / M2

Dubai Green L.

Busan-Gimhae

Vancouver Expo L.

Kuala Lumpur K. Jaya

Lille L2

Singapore CCL

Dubai Red L.

Asia

Europe

Middle East

North America

Figure 4: The 10 longest automated lines in operation, 2011 (length in km)

Automation 2011 – historic achievements & growth

119 km. 2011 has brought the greatest growth in the history of UTO; over 100 km of automated

lines inaugurated in a single year.

Significantly, most of this growth takes place outside Europe (83%); Asia stands out with 70 km. Middle East also presents high growth numbers, particularly when the 22,5 km of Dubai are complemented with the lines in Makkah and Riyadh (totalling in this case 52 new km in 2011).

Asia 59%

Europe 17%

Middle East 19%

South America

5% Figure 5: UTO km inaugurated in 2011

Geographic distribution

There are currently 588 km of automated metro in operation, in 41 lines that together serve 585 stations. Some of the longest metro lines in the world are actually automated.

59

June 2013 | www.railwaypro.com

statistics

119 km. 2011 has brought the greatest growth in the history of UTO; over 100 km of automated lines inaugu-rated in a single year. Significantly, most of this growth takes place outside Europe (83%); Asia stands out with

70 km. Middle East also presents high growth numbers.

Of the 25 cities with automated metros, 13 have more than one automated line: Barcelona, Busan, Copenhagen, Dubai, Kobe, Lille, Nuremberg, Paris, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Toulouse and Vancouver.

UTO km inaugurated in 2011 Geographic distribution

Km of automated metro in 2011, by city

Source: “METRO AUTOMATION FACTS, FIGURES AND TRENDS” - A global bid for automation: UITP Observatory of Automated Metros confirms sustained growth rates for the coming years, International Association of Public Transport (UITP) – Observatory of Automated Metros

Page | 6

Unattended train automation is a proven solution – UTO is associated to innovation, and the

public belief is that it is a very recent development. However, the first UTO lines date from 1981. With 30 years of operating experience, automated systems have proven their maturity and accumulated extensive operating experience.

Key figures – There are currently 588 km of automated metro in operation, in 41 lines that

together serve 585 stations. Some of the longest metro lines in the world are actually automated (see figure 4). Of the 25 cities with automated metros, 13 have more than one automated line: Barcelona, Busan, Copenhagen, Dubai, Kobe, Lille, Nuremberg, Paris, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Toulouse and Vancouver. Figure 3: Km of automated metro in 2011, by city

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Dub

ai

Van

couv

er

Sing

apor

e

Lille

Busa

n

Pari

s

Kual

a Lu

mpu

r

Toul

ouse

Taip

ei

Toky

o

Cope

nhag

en

Nur

embe

rg

Seou

l

Kobe

Tori

no

Lyon

Yoko

ham

a

Barc

elon

a

São

Paul

o

Nag

oya

Renn

es

Osa

ka

Las

Veg

as

Laus

anne

Hon

g Ko

ng

South America

North America

Middle East

Europe

Asia

WORTH NOTING… Some developments are not included in these figures (since they don’t fully comply with the stated Atlas criteria), but deserve to be noted, as they point to a bid for automation in significant areas:

Shanghai Metro Line 10 (30 km), designed as UTO but at the moment operating in manual mode, signals to the Chinese interest for UTO.

Two further lines in Middle East confirm UTO as the preferred option in this region:

Makkah (18 km), conceived as well as a UTO line, but not yet operating as such, represents a bid for UTO to solve one of the most critical mobility issues in this region. Ryadh (12 km) cannot be classified as a public transport system as it serves only a university campus. However, it is worth noting, due to its capacity and dimensions.

Taking these developments into account, total UTO figures reach 648 km and 644 stations.

Page | 7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Singapore NEL

Vancouver Millenium L.

Copenhagen M1 / M2

Dubai Green L.

Busan-Gimhae

Vancouver Expo L.

Kuala Lumpur K. Jaya

Lille L2

Singapore CCL

Dubai Red L.

Asia

Europe

Middle East

North America

Figure 4: The 10 longest automated lines in operation, 2011 (length in km)

Automation 2011 – historic achievements & growth

119 km. 2011 has brought the greatest growth in the history of UTO; over 100 km of automated

lines inaugurated in a single year.

Significantly, most of this growth takes place outside Europe (83%); Asia stands out with 70 km. Middle East also presents high growth numbers, particularly when the 22,5 km of Dubai are complemented with the lines in Makkah and Riyadh (totalling in this case 52 new km in 2011).

Asia 59%

Europe 17%

Middle East 19%

South America

5% Figure 5: UTO km inaugurated in 2011

Geographic distribution

Page | 11

Automation Trends

Accelerated dynamism and growth- In the last five years, the number of kilometres in service has doubled, (43 % in the last three years) with the opening of as many automated lines km as in the last 30 years. This elevated growth rate is expected to continue in the coming decades (see below)

Global reach- UTO is no longer a European bid; in the last 3 years, UTO lines have entered into service in new regions, such as Middle East (Dubai and the particular cases of Ryadh and Makkah) or South America (Sao Paolo), bringing automation to 4 continents. The 3 top cities in number of automated kilometres are actually outside Europe: Dubai, Vancouver and Singapore.

The preferred choice for new lines & systems- Hard data confirms the projections – for new lines, UTO is the predominant choice, particularly in Europe, but also in the Middle East. Some Asian countries seem to distance themselves from this trend, even if the Asian region is the largest one in terms of km growth for UTO. UTO is also the preferred option for cities that start a new metro system – this was the case for Dubai, Vancouver (a few years ago) but also for middle sized European cities such as Toulouse, Turin or Rennes.

A high capacity transport solution- In the last years, new automated lines have been implemented to respond to high capacity demand, such as the cases of Sao Paulo with a very high density and Makkah (which as noted is not in full UTO mode, but that will reach record levels during pilgrimage periods), confirming that UTO is a solution that brings together capacity and safety.

Figure 9: Expected evolution in automated lines (km) Expected evolution in automated lines (km)

Accelerated dynamism and growth- In the last five years, the number of kilometres in service has doubled, (43 % in the last three years) with the opening of as many automated lines km as in the last 30 years. This elevated growth rate is expected to continue in the coming decades

60

www.railwaypro.com | June 2013

Саудовская аравия планирует построить около 9,900 километров железнодорожных линий

Железнодорожная компания Саудовской Аравии начала план развития транспортного сектора, с помощью которого она планирует придать железнодорожному транспорту новое измерение. Несколько лет назад в большинстве арабских государств не было железных дорог, а в странах, где существовала сеть железных дорог, она сильно отстаивала от быстро развивающихся европейских стандартов. Недавние планы восстановления или строительства железных дорог на национальном или транснациональном уровне, объявленные рядом арабских государств, прослеживаются с большим интересом в железнодорожном мире, особенно это вызывает интерес промышленности.

Dammam and Jubail has received the green light for the organisation of tenders. Another very important project is Haramain project which includes the high-speed connection of the cities of Mecca, Jeddah and Medina. This project is currently in construction and will be inaugurated in 2014.

Also, the first phase included the “North-South Mineral Line” which carries mineral resources between the northern regions, Ras Al Khair / Jubail and the capital Riyadh. This project also includes the connection to the proposed ESCWA network – the railway network in Jordan via Al Haditha. ESCWA is the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. The links to the network of the Persian Gulf countries are very important, with lines between Batha to the Saudi border with the United Arab Emirates - Hofuf and Jubail - Ras Al Khair –Kuwait border, as well as the connections with the future networks in Qatar and Bahrain.

According to the Saudi Railway Organisa-tion, the comprehensive development plan 2010 – 2040 represents the basis for the long-term development of the railway net-work in Saudi Arabia.

saudi Arabia is one of these countries which announced the implementa-tion of an extended programme on

railway development which includes the construction of around 9,900 kilometres of railway network in three phases. The railway transport programme will be implemented from 2010 to 2040.

The country has enough financial re-sources and therefore the inauguration of railway passenger transport lines is expected in 2015. On the other hand, railway freight traffic is much more comprehensive. Cargo trains have been in operation since 2011 and they have since carried over 2 million tonnes of mineral resources.

The main objective of the Master Plan in Saudi Arabia is the establishment of a viable conceptual framework for the long-term de-velopment of a future freight and passenger transport network in the Kingdom.

“Saudi Arabia will build railway connec-tions with the neighbouring countries and with the international markets in order to improve the investment climate and to facili-tate economic diversification. These include aligning to the international practices and technical standards. This final aspect is very

saudi arabia has plans to build 9,900 km of railways

relevant for the interoperability of railway networks”, shows the transport programme 2010-2040.

The first phase, which has the highest pri-ority, consists in the construction of 5,500 km of railways in 2010-2025. SAR 63 Billion (EUR 12.8 Billion) will be allocated for this first phase. The second phase, with medium priority, consists in the development of 3,000 km of railways in the period 2026-2033. SAR 209 Billion (EUR 42.6 Billion) will be allo-cated for the projects included in the first phase. The third phase, with the lowest prior-ity, includes the modernisation of a network of 1,400 km of railways owned by the state, a network which is now obsolete. This phase will be carried out in the timeframe 2034-2040 and will rely on SAR 93 Billion (EUR 18.9 Billion).

The railway network included in the first development phase includes significant railway projects, some of which are already completed and others on-going. Thus, the double modernisation of the two existing railway lines between Dammam and Riya-dh will take place. The development of the project in plan “Saudi Railway Platform” between Riyadh and Jeddah and between

The railway company in Saudi Arabia has launched a Master Plan on transport providing a new dimension to railway transport. Until few years ago, the majority of Arab countries have not had railways and in the countries where railways existed, their standards were very obsolete compared to the European standards under constant development. Although most of them are rich countries, mainly due to their vast oil resources, they have not been interested in railway transport until recently, their attention and funds being directed to air and road transport. However, the recent railway revival or construction plans at national or transnational level, announced by a series of Arab countries, are observed with much interest by the railway world, especially by the players in the railway industry.

[ by Elena Ilie ]

Source: EEA, 2012

MarKet deVeLoPMent