LINK conference Regional railways in Central Eastern Europe: undiscovered potential or redundant ballast ? Dr. Andrzej Massel (CNTK) Dr. Marcin Wolek (University of Gdansk) Bucharest, 5 November 2009

LINK conference Contents Importance of railway transport for sustainable mobility Regional railways as market segment Regional railways in CEE: chosen examples What can be done?

LINK conference White Paper „European Transport Policy for 2010: Time to decide” Providing safe and effective and high quality transport services through: Regulation of competition which enables transparency and effectiveness of public services respecting social, ecological and regional development factors; Accessible tarriff system for chosen groups of passengers (i.e. retired persons); Elimination of disproportions between transport operators that might lead to market disproportions.

LINK conference Rail transport in Green Paper „Towards a new culture for urban mobility” „Extension, rehabilitation and upgrading of clean urban public transport such as trolley buses, trams, metros and suburban rail as well as other sustainable urban transport projects should continue to be promoted and supported by the EU” „ Good connections to airports, railway stations and ports, and to intermodal freight terminals, are of particular importance to interconnect the different modes of transport.” „there is insufficient attention to co-modality and a lack of integrated collective transport solutions, such as suburban railway systems, tram-train systems, and well-located Park&Ride facilities at collective transport terminals in the outskirts of towns and cities”

LINK conference EU Regulation 1370/2007 covers rail and road transport operations where compensation for public service obligation is paid and/or exclusive rights are granted; does not differentiate operators on ownership criteria; requires the existence of a Public Service Contract (PSC) limits the contract duration: 10 years for bus, 15 years for rail; establishes rules for contract awarding demands transparency of costs and contracts; PSC defines rights and duties of both authority and operator; PSC sets up sound and stable framework conditions in long period. Source: based on SPUTNIC Project findings

LINK conference Network cuts „in rail transport is that over the last 30 years an average of 600 km of railway lines have been closed each year” [White Paper „European Transport Policy for 2010] in CEE countries, regardless of network cuts there is problem of deterioration of technical condition of infrastructure. mainly, decrease of lenght was concentrated on regional railway network.

LINK conference Poland Czech Bulgaria Hungary Germany Romania 92% -average for UE25 Slovenia Slovakia Lithuania Latvia

LINK conference Segments of passenger railway market in CEE Source: self-study based on Masterplan for Railway Transport in Poland up to 2030

LINK conference Factors of low competitiveness of regional railway segment in CEE Insufficient rolling stock; Lack of integration; Inadequate Fundings. Value of regional expenditures on regional railway transport in Poland

LINK conference SWOT analysis of regional railway market - strengths High level of travelling safety Large transport capacity Lack of exposure to congestion Growing share of light railway vehicles („rail buses”) in serving regional connections with small passenger flows Possibility of usage of travelling time for work, rest or leisure Low external costs Direct access to city centres

LINK conference SWOT analysis - weaknesses Low accessibility in comparison with regional buses Differentiated density of railway network across regions Inadequacy of railway network in relation to the spreading of settlements, not favourable location of numerous stations and stops Outdated rolling stock, not suitable for present needs Lack of rolling stock adapted for PRM Lack of physical, organisational and tariff integration with other systems of regional transport Rapid degradation of railway infrastructure Insufficient infrastructure capacity in the area of large agglomerations Product range not adjusted to customer needs Lack of personal security

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SWOT analysis - opportunities Transferring of responsibility for financing and organisation of railway regional services to regional authorities and their growing role in shaping of the product range Development of the market of railway operators Growing mobility as a result of economic development Growing efficiency in spending of public funds as a result of competitive procurement of railway services (regulated competition) Growing congestion in the cities Renewal and modernisation of the rolling stock fleet Possibility of significant improvement of attractiveness of product range through better design of train timetables and through changes in tariff systems (joint ticket offers for all transport modes)

LINK conference SWOT analysis - threats Lacking introduction of mechanisms allowing development of consistent product range across modes Lack of appropriate legal framework allowing long-term contracting of train services Lack of sufficient funding for renewal of rolling stock fleet Insufficient involvement of the local self-governments in the process of regionalisation of train services Further worsening of railway infrastructure condition – increasing of journey times Growing usage of private cars

LINK conference Case of Czech Republic relatively good technical state of infrastructure; dense and integrated railway network; Rolling stock adjusted to requirements of regional services; Low competition in regional railway segment (actually 4 operators); High share of regional operations in whole market (69,5% of total trainkms in passenger traffic in 2007); Regional operations are supported by regions; relatively low level of subsidy which limitates perspectives of development.

LINK conference Subsidies to regional railway transport in Czech Republic Stabilisation of subsidy level in period of subsidy [mio CZK]Average subsidy [CZK/trainkm]

LINK conference State owned operator CFR which has still dominant position on market; REGIOTRANS which operates on more than 700 kms of regional lines around Brasov, Sigishoara, Timisoara, Arad); Also active on intercity connections Brasov – Constanta and Brasov – Iasi); S.C. REGIONAL operating on 131 kms of regional lines around Oradea and Satu Mare area; SERVTRANS INVEST operating lines around Rosiori; Deterioration of infrastructure. Case of Romania

LINK conference Case of Poland Increasing competition between seven companies of different ownership (private, state owned, self-government); poor technical condition of regional railway network; Rolling stock being modernised since 2004 (still lack of modern electric motor units); Lack of integration between regional bus and rail (but improving integration between rail and municipal transport in cities); High financial requirements to improve quality of infrastructure and rolling stock; Strong competition of private cars.

LINK conference What can be done ? A chance of development of railway regional services - integration with the regional bus transport (intermodal partnership); The railway transport – backbone of collective transport in the region linking regional bus services and individual transport (park & ride, bike & ride); Legal changes securing the position of provincial self- government as the organizer of regional transport; Partnership for transformation of some railway stations and railway stops into local or regional integration junctions in cooperation with the local self-governments, NGOs, business Introduction of new integrated information systems, which ensure comprehensive information about the product range of the public transportation (train, bus) in the area Introduction of new systems of ticket distribution.

LINK conference Future areas of interest for LINK continuation Need for models of partnership for revitalisation of regional railway systems; Railway airport links as long – distance intermodal solutions for sustainable travel (aspects of interface with regional traffic); Models of intra- and intermodal cooperation between long distance and regional operations. Regional railway network has a potential to be important part of integrated transport system and redundant ballast. It needs integrated action in such areas like organisation, marketing, rolling stock and infrastructure.

LINK conference THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION Dr. Andrzej Massel Dr. Marcin Wolek