News
EC demands cuts in “excessive” Channel Tun T
Keith Barrow Associate editor
HE European
Commission (EC) has issued a formal request to the French and British governments to enforce European regulations on track access charging for freight and passenger trains in the Channel Tunnel, which have been branded “excessive” by transport commissioner Mr Siim Kallas. According to the EC, France and Britain have failed to comply with the First Railway Package (Directives 91/440/ EEC and 2001/14/EC, now replaced by the Rail Recast) because infrastructure charges are not based on the direct costs of the long-term investment costs of building the tunnel. The EC says it has received numerous complaints about the level of charges, and it argues that the charging structure is too complex. An EC statement issued on June 20 claims the typical charge for a single path for a passenger train (depending on the time of day) is ƒ4320 plus ƒ16.60 for each passenger on board, while for freight the fee is “at least” ƒ3645. The EC argues that the current level of charging is stifling traffic growth, with an average of just six freight trains using the tunnel per day and 43% of capacity remaining unused. Only 2325 freight trains used the Channel Tunnel last year, compared with 2388 in 2011 and 2718 in 2008. On May 30 Eurotunnel announced that it will launch
a financial support scheme for railfreight operators in an effort to boost cross-Channel volumes. The Eurotunnel Incentive for Capacity Additions (Etica) mechanism will provide one-off financial support for start-up investments for a period of one year, and will be available to all operators. Eurotunnel says the scheme will be fully-funded through its own resources with no public subsidy, and is based on the EU’s Marco Polo system, complying with all relevant European Directives. It does not alter the access charges set out in Eurotunnel’s Network Statement. “The Channel Tunnel is not being used to its full capacity because of these excessive charges,” says Kallas. “As a result, more freight is being carried on lorries instead of by rail, freight operators and their customers are being overcharged, and passenger are paying over the odds for their tickets. The current regime is also stifling growth in the rail sector.” Eurotunnel points out that
Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) finally granted German Rail (DB) a ‘Certificate B’ operating licence last month to run passenger trains between France and Britain.
A
In a statement issued on June 14, Eurotunnel
welcomed the IGC’s decision,
FTER three years of studies, the Channel
unlike most rail infrastructure in Europe, the ƒ15bn investment in the Channel Tunnel was entirely funded by the private sector, and that investment was made on the basis of traffic forecasts calculated by the British and French governments and their state-owned railways. It also argues that access fees are proportional to those on the British and French networks.
DB secures Channel Tunnel access
which is eventually expected to attract 3-4 million extra high-speed passengers per year, in addition to the 10 million passengers already carried by Eurostar. Eurotunnel says no additional infrastructure investment will be required as sufficient paths are available to accommodate DB’s planned services.
Eurotunnel says Eurostar is contesting a lack of transparency in its access charges for 2014, but it says this is the same contract it has operated under since 1994. The EC also criticises the tunnel’s regulator, the Intergovernmental
Commission (IGC), which it claims does not have the power to adopt decisions on its own initiative without complaint. The IGC is made up of representatives of the British and French governments, and as a result fails to comply with European legislation because it is not fully-independent from train operators and infrastructure managers. The EC notes that Eurostar is controlled by SNCF and London & Continental Railways, which are both state-owned companies. Eurotunnel says it believes the IGC has delayed the
AVE ridership soars as passengers embrace lower fares S
PAIN’s Ministry of Transport reported last month that ridership on Renfe AVE services rose 14% year- on-year to 4.7 million passengers between February and June, following an 11% cut in all tourist class tickets. The fare cuts were introduced as part of a raft of measures including the launch of 10-trip passes, an increase in tickets
6
sold by yield management, and the introduction of more flexibility in return tickets, with the aim of stemming the decline in high-speed passenger numbers, which fell 2.6% last year.
The highest ridership
increases have been on Barcelona - Malaga (26%) and Barcelona - Seville (28%) services, while the number of
tickets sold for Barcelona - Madrid trains rose by 16%. Load factors as measured by Renfe (total tickets sold against the total number of seats offered) reached 75% and revenues remained stable with 0.18% year-on-year increase in the four months concerned. As a result, Renfe now expects to break its current annual record of 22 million high-speed
passengers this year. Sources in Renfe contacted by IRJ stated that due to a relatively low demand for business travel, the company intends to focus on continuing to expand its still weak market share in the leisure travel segment, with more special offers and longer trains at weekends and on public holidays.
IRJ July 2013
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