Rail Cargo Austria worries combi operators
Combi Net expects massive re-shifting of transports to the road Austria’s combined transport operators are worried about their existence. The reason therefore is Rail Cargo Austria AG (RCA). In spite of further declining prices in road transport and poorly used truck capacities, the cargo transport company of the ÖBB (Austrian national railway) feels forced to raise prices by an average 15 per cent in national combined transport as of July 1, 2009. As Erich Rohrhofer, Head of the intermodal unit of the RCA, announced at a meeting with representatives of the CombiNet – Netzwerk Kombinierter Verkehr, the joint order of the RCA Management Board is to put national combined transport on a profitable basis. At the moment this transport covers only 30 to 40 per cent of the costs. A step-by-step increase of the charges is therefore inevitable. After the price push of June 1, 2009, one more “adjustment“ of about 10 per cent is planned for January 1, 2010. At the meeting with the RCA Manager, CombiNet pointed out that, considering the given market situation (declining transport volumes, a lot of free truck capacities, declining diesel prices), a massive decline in volumes in combined transport and a re-shifting of transports to the road have to be expected. According to the association’s outlook about 30 per cent of the current combined transportations will be re-shifted to the road in the second half-year. This endangers also profitability of other services RCA renders within the association, such as block trains, over-night transports, terminals but also human resources, locomotives and wagons, Combi Net warns. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |