ÖBB’s cargo division is getting private railways into trouble
Rail Cargo Austria deals a heavy blow to Austrian private railways by ending the cooperation agreement on cargo transport
The ÖBB’s subsidiary Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) has terminated the decades old cooperation agreement on cargo transport with private railway companies. This means a severe economic threat for the regional railways. Some rail enterprises, who previously acted on behalf of RCA may face losses of up to 70 per cent from January 2014.
As the newspaper “WirtschaftsBlatt“ reports yesterday, contracts will be terminated with ten Austrian private railway companies carrying passengers and cargo, including Montafoner Bahn, Zillertalbahn, Raaberbahn, Stern & Hafferl, Graz Köflacher Bahn, Steiermärkische Landesbahnen, Salzburger Lokalbahn and Wiener Lokalbahnen. According to the representative of the industry Thomas Scheiber, commercial director of the Innsbruck transportation companies, a double-digit million amount was at stake.
The Zillertalbahn company has known about the decision for three weeks. Contracts and tariffs have been growing historically, as authorised officer Andreas Lackner says talking to „tirol.ORF.at“. Rail Cargo Austria wanted the train to directly interact with the customers in the future. However agreements have been drafted for the period from January 2014, but no information on the prices was available – and these were crucial – says Lackner. What can be said for sure, is that RCA wants to pay significantly less to regional railyway companies.
ÖBB justify the termination of the contract with a necessary adaptation to EU regulations and economic motives. It can not be excluded that the competition authorities interprete the cooperation as prohibited agreements between the companies and customers. „We have taken the legally required notice as an occasion to also renegotiate with our partners price conditions too,“ the ÖBB informed the „WirtschaftsBlatt“. A powerful offering in the area had to be economically viable. Because single wagon traffic was only cost competitive to trucks from a distance of 250 kilometers, the ÖBB are striving to find „a common, sensible solution“ with their partners. Relevant negotiations are in progress. The current contracts apply until the end of 2013.
Quelle: LogEastics
Portal: www.logistik-express.com