Interview
Rail Professional interview: Alain Thauvette
The railroads are not known for horrendous profit margins, so anytime you upset the applecart, it’s dangerous
DB Schenker Rail has just launched a weekly freight service from Poland to the UK. But its success with international services comes on the back of cut backs at home, following several tough years of recession. UK CEO Alain Thauvette speaks to Katie Silvester
PHOTOGRAPHY IAN ENNESS
with Spain within his remit too. The French Canadian relocated to Paris with his family in 2005 to run French freight operator Euro Cargo Rail, then part of EWS, now owned by DB Schenker. Last year he took the Region West helm from fellow Canadian Keith Heller on his retirement. Since then, DB Schenker has been renewing its
A
efforts to increase its business between the UK and the Continent, via the Channel Tunnel. In November, it launched the fi rst ever service between Poland and the UK, which is to be a regular weekly round trip. The initial service arrived in the UK six minutes early on 11 November. ‘We were looking for a place where’s there’s traffi c to and from the UK, that’s far enough that the cost could be borne by it,’ says Thauvette. ‘With France, for example, there’s too much competition, and it’s too close. But Poland is a big market. There was a good mix of product that wanted to come to the UK and vice versa.’
lain Thauvette has a lot on his plate. The head of DB Schenker Rail Region West runs all of DB Schenker’s business in the UK, France and Spain, which sees him splitting his time between the UK, Paris and Germany,
Formerly known as EWS (English, Welsh and
Scottish Railway), the operator has always had a greater interest in running services to the Continent than any of the other British-based rail freight companies. The purchase of EWS by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Schenker in 2008 made it part of a European-wide freight operation, which has made running international services even more of a focus for its new CEO. Canadian National Railway (CN) had shares in EWS, which is why both Thauvette and Heller originally came from CN. This North American infl uence has also reinforced the idea that rail freight only comes into its own over long distances where the economics begin to have the advantage over road haulage. The main hurdle that DB Schenker has had to get
over is winning approval for its locomotives for use on High Speed One (HS1), the new line that runs between the Tunnel and St Pancras. Without access to that, freight can only go as far as Dollands Moor freight yard in Kent. HS1 has been built to the full European loading gauge, which means that European-sized rolling stock can continue from the Continent as far as Barking – the terminal for the new Polish service. In order to get approval to use HS1, DB Schenker has had to modify
DECEMBER 2011 PAGE 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44