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SNCF and Eurotunnel to buy jointly out Veolia Cargo

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Pierre Billet-Legros

Announced in May 2009, Veolia Cargo auctionning should be completed by the end of the year in the form of a joint buying from SNCF and Eurotunnel, if validated by the French and European competition authorities.

Following the 2008 4th quarter and first semester of 2009 which were heavily impacted in terms of activity, as for any other European rail freight undertakings, Veolia Transport voiced about selling its cargo branch, as a part of a 3 G€ asset selling plan, 1G€ having to be obtained by the end of the year.

Under a debt weighing about 2 G€ in 2008, and having performed a halved profit compared to 2007, hardly reaching 405 M€, Veolia Environment was looking to earn 100M€ with the cession of Veolia Cargo. This subsidiary of a revenue around 188M€ in 2008 had been experiencing an explosive growth since 2003. At that time, the rail operator was only consisting of its German and Netherlandish branches and was soon added the French branch, in 2005, which was accounting for CFTA Cargo and Socorail, as well as a new domestic operator, the whole French subsidiary accounting for a 50 M€ revenue in 2008. The growth was completed in early 2008 after the merging with the German rail operator Rail4Chem, created by a chemical shippers consortium. This last absorption led to a 60% growth in the revenue of Veolia Cargo.

The anouncement of Veolia Cargo cession led to some emotions within the railway undertakings community, especially towards the identity of a possible buyer. Veolia Cargo was indeed chronologically the first private company to have operated a freight train in France (in 2005) and was therefore regarded by many as the symbol of competition within the rail sector.

Quite unsurprisingly, the potential buyers were no one else than incumbants: DB-Schenker, SNCF and Trenitalia. DBS, which undertook a heavy year of external growths (mainly EWS, Transfesa, and increases in the capital of some Polish operators, etc.) finally withdrawn from the bidding process.

In the end, this is a quite unexpected joint acquisition that is likely to occur: SNCF is buying out Veolia Cargo foreign activities (Veolia Cargo Deutschland, Italia, Nederland), while Eurotunnel (via its subsidiary Europorte2) would purchase the domestic ones. SNCF is therefore in the ideal position, in which she acquires Veolia Cargo portfolios and assets abroad, especially the former Rail4Chem which will enable the French incumbent to compete directly with DBS on its domestic market, without having to deal with rationalization plans to manage the redundancies in their production system or competition authorities blaming in the case of a complete purchase of Veolia Cargo.

When it comes to Europorte2, the relevance of such a purchase is to be questionned. At the moment, this entity is exclusively operating from Fréthun (FR) to Dollands Moor (UK), that is to say from one side of the Channel tunnel to the other one, as a subcontractor for railways undertakings, even if the license under which is operating Europorte2 enables it to ride on the main lines, provided the drivers to be certificated on each trip.

Thus, if the domestic main line activities purchase can make sense when it comes to Europorte2, the way how other Veolia Cargo France subsidiaries, such as Socorail (terminal locomotives operations, manoeuvres, maintenance of terminal installations, etc. in ports or industrial plants) or CFTA Cargo (bundled management and operation of about 150km of freight only tracks to which the company is physically bonded by leasing) will benefit Eurotunnel group has yet to be found.

Category: transport

AIR FRANCE A380 IN REVENUE SERVICE FROM NEW YORK (JFK) TO PARIS (CDG) AS OF 23 NOV 09

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Gilles Rivet

AIR FRANCE  will put its brand new Airbus A380 in revenue service on the trunk route New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) as of 23 November, 2009.

The A380 will fly the daily AF7/AF6 flights between New York (JFK) and Paris (CDG):

AF7: Dep JFK 19.10 – Arr CDG 08.35+1

AF6: Dep CDG 13.30 – Arr JFK 15.45.

The Air France A380 will be fitted with 3 cabins:

- 9 Première seats at the front of the main deck

- 80 Business seats at the front of the upper deck

- 449 “Voyageur” (Economy) seats, including 343 on the main deck and 106 on the upper deck.

Seats on non-revenue inaugural flights (AF6 on 20 Nov and AF7 on 21 Nov) will be auctionned in favor of charities.

A380

The first Air France A380 has been given the new Air France livery by Airbus at Hambourg-Finkenwerder, where it will be delivered to the airline in October.

http://www.airfrance.fr/

Category: air, passengers, transport

Vueling now second airline in Spain

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Gilles Rivet

Spanish budget airlines Vueling and Clickair are due to complete a merger this week. They are set to formally combine on July 9 to create what the new Vueling CEO Alex Cruz calls ‘a merger of equals.’

The move follows the Spanish stock market regulator CNMW exempted Iberia from making a takeover bid for the new airline. Iberia will hold a 45.85% shareholding in the new Vueling. The 36-month old Clickair brand will disappear and Vueling will become Spain’s second largest carrier flying 11 million passengers a year from six bases including its Barcelona headquarters. The new Vueling will cover a route network of almost 50 destinations.

The merged airline will also retain Clickair flights to Casablanca and Marrakech, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Budapest and Bucharest. Italy will continue to be Vueling’s second biggest market after Spain. Madrid will feature prominently on the new Vueling’s network as one of its six Spanish bases, the others being Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga and Valencia. The new Vueling will cater for 70% leisure/30% business travellers, said Cruz. Vueling will operate 35 Airbus A320s (18 aircraft coming from clickair and 17 from Vueling), serve 46 airports and run 92 routes. The combined workforce will total 1,300, including flight crew and office staff.

Source: http://www.travelmole.com

Category: air, passengers, transport

GAO Month in Review: June 2009

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

Here are the latest US Government Accountability Office (US GAO) reports about transportation, published in June 2009.

Category: air, economics, finance, freight, intermodal, mobility, passengers, public transport, rail, road, safety, security, transport

RATP: live transit schedules on iPhone Application

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

RATP, Paris transit operator, developped an application specially designed for iPhone users, that allow public transport users to check live schedule of any metro, light-rail, bus that runs on RATP network. The system also provides a full clickable map of the whole network, itinerary planning, localisation of the nearest station using the iPhone’s embedded GPS, and traffic info. We provide you with a couple screenshots below:

Home Screen RATP Apps Welcome Screen RATP Apps
Home Screen RATP Apps Welcome Screen RATP Apps
RATP Clickable Network Map RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary planning
RATP Clickable Network Map RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary planning

Read more

Category: ITS, accessibility, mobility, passengers, public transport, rail, road, transport

High-Speed Rail: what is high-speed?

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

Even though location might be approximate, speed is accurate (verified post trip with the driver). America needs high-speed rail to move faster forward.

188.7 MPH

The train was riding approximately at 188 mph or 300 kph. This is not top speed but… commercial speed: Marseilles to Paris in 3h08, 863 kilometers (or 537 miles)… Average speed of 171.2 mph with a stop in Avignon. What do you say?

Category: ITS, high speed rail, infos, infrastructure, mobility, passengers, public transport, rail, transport

GAO Month in Review – May 2009

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

Here are the latest US Government Accountability Office (US GAO) reports about transportation, published in May 2009.

Category: ITS, air, contracts, economics, finance, freight, infrastructure, intermodal, logistics, mobility, passengers, politics, rail, regulation, road, safety, security, transport

Urban Mobility: This week, Transport Expertise read… – #1

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Laurent Diringer

Transport Expertise starts a new series of product called “This week, Transport Expertise read…”: a press review of articles selected by Transport Expertise members among their readings, to share with our visitors what we are interested in… Hereafter stands articles about Urban Mobility. We plan to provide a selection for every major topic we are working on: Rail, Roads & Logistics, Air, Urban Mobility, Maritime & Waterways.

“MTA grants Italian rail car builder more time in contract negotiations” by Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2009

Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority board delayed a decision today on whether to hire an Italian rail manufacturer to build 100 cars needed for Metro’s light rail line extensions. The delay — the second since March — would give MTA officials more time to work out the details of a new offer by the firm, AnsaldoBreda, for a $300-million financial guarantee on the potential 100-car contract. [...]

Link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/mta-grants-more-time-to-controversial-italian-rail-car-builder.html

“Subsidies attracting riders to mass transit” by Sean Holstege, The Arizona Republic, June 2, 2009

When Jim Wilson took a job at Arizona Public Service Co. a year ago, he figured he’d pay $75 a week in gas and $40 a month on parking to commute from Surprise to downtown Phoenix. So, when APS offered him a transit pass for free, he was thrilled. [...] Read more

Category: economics, finance, infos, mobility, passengers, politics, public transport, transport

Rail: This week, Transport Expertise read… – #1

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Pierre Billet-Legros

Transport Expertise starts a new series of product called “This week, Transport Expertise read…”: a press review of articles selected by Transport Expertise members among their readings, to share with our visitors what we are interested in… Hereafter stands articles about Rail. We plan to provide a selection for every major topic we are working on: Rail, Roads & Logistics, Air, Urban Mobility, Maritime & Waterways.

“Rail industry urges shorter trains off-peak to cut carbon emissions”, The Guardian, May 28, 2009

The rail industry is urging the government to run shorter trains in order to meet Britain’s climate change obligations. Removing carriages outside rush hour would conserve energy and reinforce rail’s reputation as one of the greenest modes of transport, says an industry manifesto published today. Network Rail, owner of rail infrastructure, and the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) argue they can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020 by running shorter trains at off-peak times. [...]

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/28/railway-trains-climate-change-carbon-emissions

“Union Pacific CEO: Regulation Inflating Funding Costs” by Doug Cameron, Dow Jones Newswires, May 27, 2009

CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- The head of Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) warned Wednesday railroads face inflated funding costs because of uncertainty about future industry regulation. James Young, chief executive, intensified his criticism of the planned reauthorization of the Transportation Act later this year, which he said could damage future industry investment. “It’s bad law,” said Young in remarks to a rail shippers conference in Chicago. [...] Read more

Category: accessibility, contracts, economics, energy, environment, freight, infos, infrastructure, mobility, passengers, politics, rail, transport

High-Speed Rail: This week, Transport Expertise read… – #1

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

Transport Expertise starts a new series of product called “This week, Transport Expertise read…”: a press review of articles selected by Transport Expertise members among their readings, to share with our visitors what we are interested in… Hereafter stands articles about Urban Mobility. We plan to provide a selection for every major topic we are working on: Rail, Roads & Logistics, Air, Urban Mobility, Maritime & Waterways.

“Florida still has chance for fast train, but other states vying for U.S. aid” by Michael Turnbell, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 25, 2009

A bullet train, its supporters say, could boost tourism, create jobs and get cars off Florida’s crowded roads. There’s even $8 billion in federal stimulus money available to help build the proposed Tampa-Orlando-Miami line, where trains would move at least 110 mph and zip travelers from South Florida to Disney World in less than two hours. [...]

Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-high-speed-rail-b052509sbmay25,0,6488044.story

“Against All Odds, Florida Rail Authority Rolls On”, News Service of Florida, May 26, 2009

The Florida High Speed Rail Authority last month had one of its most high profile members resign and the rest of its members terms have actually expired. But the authority has kept the wheels on its plan to apply for federal money that can be used to build a proposed Tampa-Orlando-Miami bullet train. [...] Read more

Category: PPP, economics, energy, environment, finance, high speed rail, infrastructure, passengers, projects, public transport, rail, transport
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