News Siemens to acquire Invensys Rail for $US 2.8bn
Keith Barrow Associate editor
NVENSYS has announced it is to sell its rail division to Siemens for $US 2.8bn following a strategic review which concluded that consolidation in the signalling industry would limit the scope for expanding the company’s rail activities.
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The disposal, which has been agreed on a cash free/
debt free basis, was subject to shareholder approval at Invensys’ general meeting, due to be held as IRJ went to press, and is also subject to regulatory consent, with completion expected in the second quarter of next year. Invensys notes that Invensys Rail has made significant progress in recent years expanding its business outside Britain, its traditional core market, to the extent that new
New lines open in Austria and Netherlands
OURNEY times have been cut in Austria and the Netherlands with the opening of the ƒ2.8bn Vienna - St Pölten (p30) and the ƒ1.13bn Hanze lines on December 9. The Austrian project is the first line in the country to permit trains to run at 230km/h, with a plan to increase this to 250km/h in the future. The 56.3km line is part of a scheme to quadruple the Vienna - Linz -
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Wels main line, and its completion has shaved 23 minutes off the Vienna - Salzburg trip.
The 50km Hanze line plugs a gap in the Dutch rail network between Lelystad and Zwolle and has cut journey times between Amsterdam and the northern cities of Leeuwarden and Groningen by about 20 minutes and resulted in a reorganisation of rail services in the region.
markets including Spain, Australia and North America now account for 64% of its order book.
“The key issue with consolidation is that rolling stock manufacturers would be reluctant to part with key assets in signalling, so we would only have very limited ability to become the consolidator,” says Invensys chief executive Mr Wayne Edmunds. “We therefore
decided to seek a partner and Siemens was an easy choice being a clear leader in the signalling market.” A strategic review concluded that the group should focus on developing its industrial software, systems, and control equipment businesses, and the disposal of the rail unit would allow the company to address its pension liabilities while generating funds for investment.
Norway plans national ERTMS rollout T
HE Norwegian ministry of transport and
communications announced on November 28 that it has asked infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket to prepare a draft development strategy for the rollout of ERTMS across the national network. In a letter to Jernbanverket and all of the country’s train operators dated November 26, the ministry says that the adoption of ERTMS is the only viable long-term option for replacing life-expired
signalling systems. The government will include the rollout plans in the country’s 2014-2023 national transport strategy, which is due to be finalised in the spring, although no timescale or budget has been put forward. A pilot project is underway involving the installation of ETCS Level 2 on an 80km section of the Østfold line between Ski and Sarpsborg in the southeast of the country. The project will be completed in 2014.
IRJ January 2013
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