News
HE French government announced plans on October 30 to reorganise both French National Railways (SNCF) and French Rail Network (RFF) and to create what it describes as a “unified public pole” - a type of holding company - which will comply with European Union rules. The Ministry of Transport describes the current structure as dysfunctional and is concerned at the rapid increase in long-term debt. The combined long-term debt of RFF and SNCF is currently around ƒ40bn and is increasing at between ƒ1bn and ƒ1.5bn a year. The transport minister, Mr Frédéric Cuvillier, says the debt could reach ƒ52bn by 2025. The ministry is also concerned about the volume of work needed to address the chronic under-investment in the conventional network during the last 20 years. Work will be undertaken at more than 1000 locations each year, with up to 300 work sites active simultaneously at certain periods next year. To address these concerns, the management of the infrastructure will be unified by merging RFF with SNCF’s divisions responsible for infrastructure maintenance and train control.
The government says the director of the new unified
France to reintegrate RFF and SNCF next year T
David Briginshaw Editor-in-chief
Open-access operators are concerned that the planned reforms might have a negative impact on competition in the railfreight sector, where SNCF’s rivals have taken a significant market share.
infrastructure manager (GIU) will be assured independence to avoid conflicts of interest with other operators. A network code will define a clear set of rules for allocating capacity and clarifying priorities for different types of traffic. A high committee formed of representatives from the GIU, train operators, the regions, Ile-de-France Transport Authority (Stif), users and the state will be responsible for the good functioning of the railway and will act as a conciliator to resolve disputes. The government will conclude two multi-year contracts with the GIU and SNCF which will set out the
mission for each organisation. The ministry also says it is essential to control costs, and so rules for covering the costs of the network and balancing the finances of the GIU will be defined in law, and financial objectives will be set in a five- year contract between the state and the GIU. The state will also conclude a multi-year contract with the GIU to manage the debt. The Rail Regulation Authority (ARF) will have its remit extended and governance reinforced and will be charged with informing government and parliament if there is a risk that targets will not be met. The reform will also include
a social pact which will guarantee the same level of protection to all railway staff. This set alarm bells ringing with Britain’s Rail Freight Group (RFG), whose private members operate trains to and within France. RFG says giving all railway employees the same conditions of employment as SNCF staff will “kill competition and ensure that SNCF retains an increasing monopoly position until it closes railfreight completely” having lost 50% of its traffic in the last decade. In the meantime, Mr Jacques Rapoport has been appointed chairman of RFF to succeed Mr Hubert du Mesnil and steer RFF through the reforms.
consortium of transport economists says that the European Union (EU) should adopt a policy of free choice in the structural model for the rail sector after concluding in a comprehensive study of European railways that no particular model outperforms all others. The Economic Effects of Vertical Separation in the Railway Sector (EVES-Rail) study was conducted by an international research
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EU-wide vertical separation would increase costs, says study A
N international
consortium led by Inno-V, Netherlands, and included researchers from the Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, Britain, the Free University of Amsterdam, Civity Management Consultants, Germany, and the universities of Kobe and Fukuyama, Japan. EVES-Rail considered several qualitative and quantitative research efforts which assessed the effect of vertical separation on the sector’s cost efficiency, its
modal share, state spending and competition within the sector. The study also develops a structural analysis of the incentives of infrastructure managers and railway operators, and how these incentives may lead to efficient or inefficient outcomes for the railway as a whole depending on which model is in place. The study concludes that a one-size-fits-all model for all European countries is unrealistic given the variation of structural characteristics
between member states. EVES-Rail finds that the
effect of vertical separation on rail system costs is not identical in every country, and that competition works no better with vertical separation than with a holding company. As a result, the group says that rail sector costs would increase if vertical separation was imposed universally in the EU. The study was financed by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Managers (CER).
IRJ December 2012
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