Challenges and possibilities in Eastern European countries for rail freight transport. Olivier Piron Ling Ling Hu Márton Feldmann László Jakab

Transcription

1 Challenges and possibilities in Eastern European countries for rail freight transport Team: Olivier Piron Ling Ling Hu Márton Feldmann László Jakab Paris, SIAFI 2007

2 Table of content Executive Summary Introduction European Union GDP Population Commerce between Western and Eastern Europe Main direction flows Modal Split Goods transported by rail Modal split of freight transport Regulation for freight transport (COTIF) Infrastructure State of infrastructure in Southeast Europe Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria Greece Hungary Romania Serbia Turkey The current situation of Rolling Stock in Eastern European Countries Interoperability Technical Status Loading gauge Signalling system Type tension system Maximum Freight Speed Maximum Axle Load Maximum train load Maximum Train Length Financing Instruments Possibilities to finance railway construction Public Private Partnership (PPP) Bottlenecks Conclusions

3 Maps Map 1-1: Member states in Map 1-2: Member states in Map 1-3: Member states in Map 2-4: Direction flow to Southeast Europe... 7 Map 2-5: New Cotif 1999, source: CIT Map 3-6: Map of Bosnia-Herzegovina, source: Map 3-7: Map of Bulgaria, source: Map 3-8: Map of Greece, source: Map 3-9: Map of Hungary, source: Map 3-10: Map of Romania, source: Map 3-11: Map of Serbia, source: Map 3-12: Map of Turkey, source: Map 4-13: Loading gauge, source: Map 4-14: Signalling systems 1, source: Map 4-15: Signalling systems 2, source: Map 4-16: Type of current 1, source: Map 4-17: Type of current 2, source: Map 4-18: Maximum freight speed, source: Map 4-19: Axle load, source: Map 4-20: Maximum train load, source: Map 4-21: Maximum train length, source:

4 Figures Figure 1-1: Real GDP growth rate, source: Eurostat... 5 Figure 1-2: Population development with the enlargement process... 6 Figure 2-3: Goods transport by rail (million tkm), source: Eurostat... 9 Figure 2-4: Modal split (% in total inland freight tonne-km), source: Eurostat Figure 3-5: Track characteristics in Southeast Europe Figure 3-6: Number of Locomotives, source: Figure 4-7: Loading gauge, source: Figure 6-8: Current and planed corridor characteristics, source: Figure 7-9: Required investments

5 Executive Summary In an ongoing liberalisation process within Europe in connection with the enlargement of the European Union it is essential that the economies in the European countries grow. Higher economical growth is forecasted in the Eastern European countries especially in Romania and in Bulgaria. To satisfy the needs of the economy in the European countries it is important to own efficient transport networks for all means of transport. Nowadays there is a higher willingness of the most governments to invest into Road instead of Rail. While yearly km new highways are being built within the EU, 600 km of railway lines disappear. 1 Between 1990 und 2003 railway lines lost almost 8 % based on km. 2 The density of railways can t conquer with the road. The condition of the infrastructure and rolling stock is below the European average in the Eastern part of the continent. This project work gives a short overview about the main freight flows in Eastern Europe, about the modal split and the railway infrastructure and about the possibilities and bottlenecks in the transportation process. Moreover suggests solutions for maintaining the modal split between different means of transport in order to fulfil the long term strategic goals of the European legislation. 1 Source: 2 Source: p.18 1

6 1 Introduction 1.1 European Union The European Union (EU) was created by six founding states in 1957 (following the earlier establishment by the same six states of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952) and has grown to 27 member states in There have been five enlargements, with the largest occurring on May 1, 2004, when 10 states joined (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia), and the most recent on January 1, 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania joined. Currently, accession negotiations are prepared with several states (Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey). 3 The maps 1, 2 and 3 give a general overview about the geographical development in the three recent enlargements. This enlargement process in 2004 and 2007 makes impact on the whole European market but also on the economies of each countries. If I only consider the growth of population by over 25 %. 4 (Figure -1) There is a natural need for more intensive movement of commodity within Europe. It requires better quality of rail, road and waterways in the transport chain. Map 1-1: Member states in However there is a difference between the density of railway and motorway network in Western- and in Eastern-Europe. Surprisingly the Central European Countries have an average of 60,6 km railways per km 2, while EU 15 has 46,0 km railways. The 3 Source: 4 Source: 5 Source: 2

7 difference between highway network is huge, while in EU 15 we find 15,8 km of motorways in each km 2, in CEC only 2,7 km. 6 Map 1-2: Member states in The density is only one index, the quality, maximum speed, grade of electrification are others, which will be described in the infrastructural chapter of this work. 6 Source: 7 Source: 3

8 Map 1-3: Member states in GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure for the economic activity. It is defined as the value of all goods and services produced less the value of any goods or services used in their creation. The calculation of the annual growth rate of GDP at constant prices is intended to allow comparisons of the dynamics of economic development both over time and between economies of different sizes. The growth rate is calculated from figures at constant prices since these give volume movements only, i.e. price movements will not inflate the growth rate. 9 Here you find some GDP indicators for EU 15 and for this work relevant countries: EU (27 countries) EU (15 countries) Belgium Bulgaria Germany Greece (f) 2.7 (f) (f) 2.5 (f) (f) 2.2 (f) (f) 6.2 (f) (f) 2.4 (f) (f) 3.7 (f) 8 Source: 9 Source: n=detailref&language=en&product=sdi_main&root=sdi_main/sdi/sdi_ed/sdi_ed_inv/sdi_ed1110 4

9 Hungary (f) 2.6 (f) Austria (f) 2.5 (f) Romania (f) 6.3 (f) Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of (f) 3.1 (f) 4.3 (f) 5.3 (f) Turkey (f) 5.9 (f) (f): Forecast Figure 1-1: Real GDP growth rate, source: Eurostat 10 As you can read in the chart a higher real GDP is forecasted for Eastern and Southeast of Europe than in Western Europe because a higher willingness for investments are forecasted for these regions n=detailref&language=en&product=sdi_main&root=sdi_main/sdi/sdi_ed/sdi_ed_inv/sdi_ed1110 5

10 1.3 Population Figure 1-2: Population development with the enlargement process 11 Every second enlargement process caused a drastic expansion in the population within the EU. In some cases because the high density of population in the newcomer states in other instance because of the number of the joining countries. The latest existing data about the population is from There is no important difference in the density of the population between EU 15 (118,7) and EU 27 (113,4), however Malta has a big share in the balance with 1271,5 inhabitants per km 2. Without Malta there is a tremendous difference (EU 12: 85 inhabitants/km 2 ). 11 Source: 6

11 2 Commerce between Western and Eastern Europe 2.1 Main direction flows Concerning rail freight transport between Western and Eastern part of the continent there is mainly one way flow from the Benelux countries, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, FYROM, Greece and to Turkey. While the transport quantity to the EU newcomers was by 12,8 million net tons, in the opposite direction railways produced only 3,4 million tons. It has more specific reasons. First of all, there are 3 main blocktrain collecting and departure points: Ljubljana-Zalog (with a so called pre marshalling activity in Chervignano (Italian Slovenian border and Villach (Austria), Sopron (Hungary, Austrian border) and Sturovo/Szob (Slovakian Hungarian border) offering permanent and calculable departures, flexibility and fair market prices to East and Southeast conquering with road transportation. Map 2-4: Direction flow to Southeast Europe In 2006 approx. 40 % of all traffic has been transported via Sopron, Zalog had a share of about 25 % and Sturovo/Szob 17 %. The rest 18 % of the total amount choose the way of normal conventional routes without blocktrain services. (e.g. Nickelsdorf/Hegyeshalom as Austrian/Hungarian crossbording station) The forwarded commodities are mainly on rail transportable goods like steel, paper, half finished wood, chemicals, building material, consumer goods, cars, technical goods etc Source: GYSEV Zrt., Sopron; MÁVCargo Zrt., Budapest 7

12 Sopron is a special case under these stations, because this railway line belongs to GYSEV Plc. which is a private railway company with own infrastructure including marshalling yard, with more flexibility and higher level of customer orientation than it is usual at the state-owned railway undertakings. The company begun with offering blocktrain services at the beginning of the 90 s when the Balkan war started making unable to transport via former Yugoslavia. After ending the Balkan war, stabling the political situation and rebuilding the infrastructure, another important HUB was established in this region, which receives the freight blocktrains from the 3 smaller hubs: Beograd Makis. It is important because the maximum train parameters change after this station. From Sopron, Zalog and Sturovo are gross tons trains with a maximum length of 600 meters allowed. In Bulgaria and Turkey are the maximum parameters by gross tons and 500 meters, in FYROM and Greece only with 500 meters. 13 In Beograd is a re-marshalling activity according to the final destination of the commodities. Transports from Hungary to Romania are except from that because the run along the IV. Trans-European corridor via Sopron / Hegyeshalom / Rajka / Sturovo Budapest Curtici. In 2006 the most visible transport improvement in quantity had final destinations in Romania via Sopron with a total increase of 60 % from 2005 to It can be proved, that this huge increase was already the reaction of the market as the preparation to the entrance in the European Union. As mentioned above on the South East axle could be transported only 3,4 million tons of goods because of the following influences: - Fewer block train services in commercial transportation (Only Romania Sopron) - Less multimodal terminals for combining different modes of transport - Lower transport price on road because of the local hauliers - Less raw materials and half finished goods in this direction (mainly wood and recyclable scrap) - Lower number of relevant factory siding - Terminals not interested to win clients and tons for railways 2.2 Modal Split Goods transported by rail The quantity of goods transport by rail increased during the last years, but not at all in the same pace as road transport. The conclusion is that the number of tkm by road is much greater than the tkm performed by rail. This increase has been done in spite of a shrinking network and less rolling stock, which must indicate that the efficiency of the rail industry today is higher than 10 years ago EU (25 countries) EU (15 countries) Source: Schenker-Railog GmbH, Vienna 14 Source: GYSEV Zrt., Sopron 8

13 Belgium Bulgaria Germany Greece Hungary Austria Romania Turkey Figure 2-3: Goods transport by rail (million tkm), source: Eurostat Modal split of freight transport This indicator is expressed as the percentage share of each mode of transport in total inland transport in tonne-kilometre (tkm). It includes transport by rail, road and inland waterways. Railway transport EU (27 countries) 19.5 (s) 18.6 (s) 18.1 (s) 18.4 (s) 17.9 (bs) 17.6 (s) EU (25 countries) 18.9 (s) 18 (s) 17.6 (s) 18 (s) 17.7 (bs) 17.4 (s) EU (15 countries) 14.9 (s) 14.3 (s) 13.9 (s) 14.1 (s) 14.0 (bs) 14 (s) Belgium Bulgaria (b) Germany Greece : : : 2.3 (b) : 2.6 Hungary 28.8 (b) Austria (b) 32.6 Romania (b) 21.7 Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of : Turkey Road transport EU (27 countries) 73.9 (s) 74.9 (s) 75.6 (s) 75.8 (s) 76.1 (bs) 76.5 (s) EU (25 countries) 74.5 (s) 75.5 (s) 76.1 (s) 76.2 (s) 76.5 (bs) 76.9 (s) EU (15 countries) 77.6 (s) 78.3 (s) 78.9 (s) 79.2 (s) 79.1 (bs) 79.3 (s) Belgium Bulgaria (b) Germany Greece : : : 97.7 (b) : 97.4 Hungary 68.1 (b) Austria (b) 64.4 Romania (b) 67.3 Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of : Source: n=detailref&language=en&product=yearlies_new_transport&root=yearlies_new_transport/g/eba

14 Turkey Inland waterway EU (27 countries) 6.6 (s) 6.5 (s) 6.3 (s) 5.8 (s) 6.0 (s) 5.9 (s) EU (25 countries) 6.6 (s) 6.5 (s) 6.3 (s) 5.8 (s) 5.8 (s) 5.7 (s) EU (15 countries) 7.6 (s) 7.4 (s) 7.2 (s) 6.8 (s) 6.8 (s) 6.7 (s) Belgium Bulgaria (b) Germany Greece Hungary 3.1 (b) Austria (b) 3 Romania (b) 11 Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Turkey (:) Not available (-): Not applicable or zero (s): Eurostat estimate (b): Break in series (e): Estimated value Figure 2-4: Modal split (% in total inland freight tonne-km), source: Eurostat 16 This chart shows that the railways lose space from year to year against road transport. In long term a further benefit of road share is forecasted. If there will be no change in the modal split for rail in the future, the road traffic will have a social and environmental impact on transport. By this influence is meant the greenhouse gas emissions from transport, the emissions of NOx and the people killed in road accidents. 16 Source: n=detailref&language=en&product=sdi_tr&root=sdi_tr/sdi_tr/sdi_tr_gro/sdi_tr

15 2.3 Regulation for freight transport (COTIF) The protocol for COTIF 1999 was signed in Vilnius and is based on COTIF 1980 with modifications regarding the passenger and freight transportation. COTIF itself is the convention concerning International Carriage by Rail and has 8 appendixes marked from A to G as follows: A. CIV (Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of International Carriage of Passengers by Rail) B. CIM (Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of International Carriage of Goods by Rail) C. RID (Regulation concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail) D. CUV (Uniform Rules concerning the Contracts of Use of Vehicles in International Rail Traffic) E. CUI (Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of Use of Infrastructure in International Rail Traffic) F. APTU (Uniform Rules concerning the Validation of Technical Standards and the Adoption of Uniform Technical Prescriptions applicable to Railway Material intended to be used in International Traffic) G. ATMF (Uniform Rules concerning the Technical Admission of Railway Material used in International Traffic) Whole COTIF (5/18) I P E G F N B N D LU FL CH MC D I S F L L P C A SI HR B S H A R MK G R B U T X Declaration of non application of CUI, APTU, ATMF coming into force on January 2008 or 2009 (6/7) CIV, CIM, RID, CUV (9) CIV, CIM (1) CIM (1) Not yet ratified (3/4) = EU Member State Suspended M T L S I I D Map 2-5: New COTIF 1999, source: CIT 11

16 Concerning this agreement in Southeast Europe ratified all the countries wholly except Greece. In Central Europe Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary ratified except appendixes E, F, G (coming into force on January 2008 or

17 3 Infrastructure 3.1 State of infrastructure in Southeast Europe Bosnia-Herzegovina The railway network is km, there exist only single track, of which 590 km is electrified. Map 3-6: Map of Bosnia-Herzegovina, source:

18 3.1.2 Bulgaria The length of railways is km, km electrified, 917 km double track. Most of the rail network designed for speeds of km/h. Only 150 km designed up to 130 km/h. Over the station switches is the maximum speed 100 km/h. The international connections to all neighbour countries are only single track. The main railroutes are electrified, but the cross-border sections to Greece, to Romania and Turkey aren t. Map 3-7: Map of Bulgaria, source:

19 3.1.3 Greece The length of railway network is km, of which 75 km is electrified. Max axle load is 20 tons. The main section, from Thessaloniki to Athina is double track (510 km), and under electrification. In Greece there is only one cross-border section which is electrified but single track the Skopje-Thessaloniki line. The Thessaloniki-Sofia line is only for diesel traction. 15

20 Map 3-8: Map of Greece, source: Hungary The length of the Hungarian rail network is km, of which km electrified and km double track. The biggest problem in railway traffic is that the network is Budapestcentred, From east to west the trains can go via Budapest. The crossborder sections are single track, only the Budapest-Vienna section is double track. The infrastructure is in poor condition resulting in a significant number of permanent and temporary speed restrictions on primary lines. There are currently 270 permanent speed restrictions on intercity lines (average of 31 total speed restrictions per line), reducing line speed on average between10-20 km/h from an average maximum line speed of km/h. In addition there are 251 temporary speed restrictions. On commuter lines into Budapest there are currently 97 permanent speed restrictions and are 69 temporary speed restrictions (average of 15 total speed restrictions per line). On the main corridors (IV. and V) there are running large renewal works, but in 2013 there will be gaps in the network because of the inhomogeneous infrastructure conditions like train control systems (EVM and ETCS). Map 3-9: Map of Hungary, source:

21 3.1.5 Romania The railway network in Romania has km, of which km is electrified and km with double track. All of the cross-border sections are single track. and one of them is electrified, the Lökösháza- Curtici line to Hungary. All southern sections are for diesel traction. The main corridors are partly single track. Map 3-10: Map of Romania, source: Serbia Total Railway track length is km, of which km single-track and 275 km doubletrack km (31%) of tracks electrified. Traction Substations and Overhead Contact Wires are more than 30 years old. 50% of railway stations are equipped with signalling-safety devices manufactured by Siemens over 30 years ago. Telecommunication equipment at a very rudimentary level

22 The corridor XB is single track but electrified. Only one cross border section is double track, the main corridor X only up to Beograd. The southern part of corridor X is partly single track. Map 3-11: Map of Serbia, source:

23 3.1.7 Turkey Turkey has kilometres of railways running between its western and eastern borders, only kilometres are electrified, 312 km double track on TER lines. Turkey is without double track cross-border section too, the main rail-route from Bulgaria is for diesel traction, from the border electrified. To the main port of Halkali (Istanbul) the line is single track. Map 3-12: Map of Turkey, source: 23 In the figure 3-5 the characteristics of the railway infrastructure in Southeast Europe are summarized. The figure shows, that there exists a lack of electrified sections, only 31,9 % of the total length is electrified and about 14,1 % are double track. The single track and the non electrified lines are mainly not along the corridors. track length (km) double track (km) electrified (km) Bosnia Bulgaria Greece Hungary Romania Serbia Turkey Sum: Figure 3-5: Track characteristics in Southeast Europe

24 3.2 The current situation of Rolling Stock in Eastern European Countries The locomotives in Eastern European Countries are produced by the state companies of these countries. Most of them are older than 30 years and the technical level is low. These are not able for interoperability, the electrical ones can handle only one electrification system. In these countries the national locomotive production has ended. It is possible to buy from western companies but the price is above the confirmable level. These days even more companies buy or rent second-hand locomotives. For example, Romanian private railway undertakings buy from Croatia, but with this transactions the number of the locos will be the same in the region. All the countries have an independent and country specified train protection system, therefore they can move only on the national network. The number of the locomotives are shown in the following table: Country Electric locomotives Diesel locomotives Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria 11 (ZFBH) 15 (ZRS) (owned by private railway) Shunting locomotives Greece Hungary 424 (GYSEV: 24) (GYSEV: 17) Romania 125 (CFR Marfa) (GFR) 34 (GFR) 7 (GFR) ~ 50 (other) Serbia Turkey Figure 3-6: Number of Locomotives, source: Source: 20

25 4 Interoperability 4.1 Technical Status The main freight network from Western to Eastern Europe is constrained by technical barriers which has as concrescence to decrease capacity, increases journey time and transport costs, and prevent it from competing effectively with other modes of transport, particularly road transport. In this chapter we will try to describe the more important infrastructure obstacles for a well integrated transport market Loading gauge An important determinant of railway infrastructure capacity to carry traffic relates to the shape of loading a wagon or a locomotive must have in order to be able to run without perturbation inside the construction gauge of the structure along the track. These loading capacities fall into one of the three categories shown in figures 1. GA, GB and GC. Even if a large portion of the track in Eastern Europe permit GB or GC gauge (which is sufficient for normal traffic), some part are less than GB and can create a reduction of capacity for all the route of a international train. Figure 4-7: Loading gauge, source: Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan,

26 Map 4-13: Loading gauge, source: Signalling system Even if there is over twenty different signalling system in Europe, we can characterized the signalling control system within 4 categories: No additional cab assistance Warning stop function Discrete speed supervision Continuous speed supervision We can find all those 4 categories in Eastern Europe. The current mean for avoiding a change of loco at a border is to equip that loco with the different systems. Map 4-14: Signalling systems 1, source: Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan, Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan,

27 Map 4-15: Signalling systems 2, source: Type tension system The fig 4 shows that the Eastern region is equip meanly of an AC25Kv 50 Hz system which is the reference system described in the Energy TSI (Technical Specifications for Interoperability). Only some line are non-electrified. Map 4-16: Type of current 1, source: Source: 23

28 Map 4-17: Type of current 2, source: Maximum Freight Speed Map 4-18: Maximum freight speed, source: Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan, Source: 31 Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan,

29 4.5 Maximum Axle Load All over Europe, the network is predominantly designed to carry maximum axle loads of 22.5 tonnes. If we look at the fig 6, we noticed that a large part of the lines for which we are concerned about are designed for less than 22 tonnes. This has a great impact on the configuration of wagon loading and thus payloads of freight trains. Map 4-19: Axle load, source: Maximum train load Map 4-20: Maximum train load, source: Maximum Train Length For freight train, maximum train lengths are defined by the length of passing loops and sidings. Gradients and coupler capacity may also be influencing factors, particularly when 32 Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan, Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan,

30 long trains are combined with heavy wagon loads. Provisions needs to be made in the regular timetables to park and divert freight trains to a holding loop or siding in or to allow higher priority trains to pass. Therefore the existing characteristics of the network have an important influence on the ability to accept long trains. One important question is about the priority of the freight train regarding passenger trains. This has to be taken into consideration for the development and commercial viability of traffic freight and be integrated within a global politic of train transport (freight and passenger). Map 4-21: Maximum train length, source: Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan,

31 5 Financing Instruments 5.1 Possibilities to finance railway construction Financing of development activities on the Pan-European Transport Corridors varies. There is a multitude of investment sources, a sample of ongoing and finished projects: - National funds/budgets - EU funds/grants: - TEN-T budget for projects within EU member states - ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) for projects within EU member states on regional and interregional level to support the development of economically undeveloped regions. (Financing period: ) - The Cohesion Fund for projects within EU member states - INTERREG III It is a Community initiative which aims to stimulate interregional cooperation in the EU between It is financed under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 35 - ISPA (instrument for structural policies for pre-accession, especially largescale environment and transport investment support) - PHARE (instrument for structural policies for pre-accession, especially for institution building measures [with accompanying investment] as well as measures designed to promote economic and social cohesion) - CARDS (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation) - TACIS (The TACIS programme aims to promote the transition to a market economy and to reinforce democracy and the rule of law in the partner states in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.) 36 - Marco Polo II ( ) For modal shift actions, which enable rail and waterways to conquer with road transport. - EIB (European Investment Bank) - EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) - PAN-EUROSTAR - World Bank - IFIs (International Financial Institutions) - PPP (Public Private Partnership) 5.2 Public Private Partnership (PPP) In the future the involvement of private capital in EU investments can be a key measure of the policy. In order to attract more private funding for the deployment of transport infrastructure projects, the TEN-T programme will do actions aimed at promoting private sector involvement in the development and financing of TEN transport projects, in particular those which benefit from financial support of the Commission. 35 Source: 36 Source: 27

32 In 2007, this support will target actions on: networking, benchmarking and dissemination of good practices, establishment of a dedicated database, provision of support and advice to project promoters and or Administrations and provision of expertise to the appraisal of applications submitted for TEN funding. With a view to increase and share, public sector expertise in the Public Private Partnership sector, the Commission will seek adequate partners, both in terms of know-how and co financing, for the joint development of the promotional actions Source: 28

33 6 Bottlenecks Bottlenecks could be found in all chapters of this work. First of all there is an inter/intra market competition, which is not a bottleneck but political decisions in the different mode of transportation can lead to bottlenecks in the modes of transport. (e.g. internalisation of the external costs of road transport without upgrading the railway infrastructure added with a higher demand for railway transportation will lead to higher transport times, and inability of railways to maintain the service level) The existing bottlenecks cause more practical problems for railways as listed below: - Not all the countries ratified COTIF 1999, so the railway bill must be changed at these crossborder points. - Crossborder activity needs in these countries double time because there is a lack in the information transfer. - Additional administrative work at EU/Non EU crossborder points - Not all the railways use basic interval timetable (ITF) - Condition of the TEN Network. In Southeast Europe only 14,1 % (5.741 km) has double track. Theoretic train length is 600 meter to Beograd but to Turkey and Greece this parameter is limited by 500 metres. - Bottlenecks in the interoperability (loading gauge, signalling system, electrification) - Weight of freight trains is restricted because of the train length, capacity of locomotives and partly because of the mountains. - Last but not at least the most important bottleneck is the lack of National and EU funds for maintaining and upgrading the existing infrastructure and for building new lines. According to the European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan (ERIM UIC report) the following corridor characteristics could contribute to remove the bottlenecks: Minimum standards Present maximum Target values Train speed 100 km/h 120 km/h Length of train 600 (500) metres 750 metres Weight of train (1.160) gross tons gross tons Axle load 20 tonnes 20 tonnes (22,5 tonnes at 100 km/h Figure 6-8: Current and planed corridor characteristics, source: 38 There are different studies from the years between 2000 and 2002 concerning with the possible costs for the infrastructure improvements. All of them underestimated the required amount of money and didn t take into account that TEN investment plans are not only for railway but also for road and inland waterway. For the next seven years the EU expect the member states to invest into railway infrastructure between 50 and 60 %. Some Eastern European countries finance only 30 to 40 % of the available funds in the railway sector. A large extent of the funds will be spent in building highways to avoid traffic jams along the road corridors Source: UIC: European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan, Source: 29

34 7 Conclusions As shown in the figure 7-9 there are three different kind of bottlenecks according to the needed fund to remove them. The low marked are the ones with the easiest and quickest solution finding. Crossborder activities and flexibility in administration need bi-lateral agreements between the involved railways. A practical solution in crossbording of freight trains has been already practiced at Sopron operated by GYSEV Plc.. There exists a joint crossborder technical checking with OBB (Austrian Federal Railways), where the cross verification will be done in one step under presence of representative of both railways in marshalling Yard Sopron Rendezı This technology allows shorter crossbording time and higher productivity and avoids extra marshalling activity. Amount of required funds Low Mid High Improvement of crossborder COTIF agreement Upgrading the infrastructure activity (tracks, stations, electrification etc.) Higher flexibility in Basic interval timetable Purchasing new multi-system administration locomotives Figure 7-9: Required investments In the mid segment (figure 7-9) are the COTIF agreement and interval timetabling mentioned because these investments need an upgrade in existing IT systems by purchasing new computers and software and programming. Signing the COTIF agreement requires also legal actions within the railway organisations combined with trainings. In the high parcel of the figure 7-9 are the infrastructural and locomotive related subjects listed. In Central and Southeast of Europe still remain a large discrepancy between the different countries and about technical characteristics. To obtain a greater efficiency and to allow a the real free movement of a freight train, major investments has to be made on the infrastructure with a priority for the removing of the bottlenecks. All these investments had of course to take into account technical and interoperability aspects in order to facilitate movements at border crossing. For that reason, harmonization of technical and operational specifications for the trans- European rail system is vital but it is impossible without the influence of political instruments, responsible politics and competent experts. 30