In Brief
Freight railway
services generate profit
At a press conference at the beginning of March, the
Executive Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov, announced that the Freight Service Division is able
to generate sufficient revenue from its business to cover its own needs and
even generate some profit, which would enable it to make investments. According
to him, the Traction Rolling Stock (Locomotive) Division will probably generate
no profit and no loss either, i.e. revenue will equal expenditure. He
considered that resolute intervention on the part of the State will be
necessary to ensure the existence of the Passenger Service Division as a
separate enterprise. Oleg Petkov
announced as well that BDZ EAD has concluded a contract with a Romanian private
railway operator, which will provide services for Bulgarian passengers on
Romanian territory. In turn, BDZ will provide services for the customers of its
Romanian partner on Bulgarian territory.
Shortage of
personnel in the railway industry
According to the Executive Director (and main
share-holder) of Transvagon Holding, Georgi Popescu, the company has
been working for a number of years with less than its full capacity due to the
shortage of qualified personnel. Currently, the workshop employs 500 people,
the production output reaches 600 new wagons per year and the main market is
Germany (450 wagons). According to Popescu,
approximately 4 000 BDZ wagons need overhauling, while the total wagon needs in
the country amount to 14-15 thousand wagons.
NRIC plans to form
two daughter companies
According to the Director General of NRIC, Anton Ginev, the company is planning to establish two daughter
companies – for telecommunications and energy. This can be accomplished only if
the relevant legislative changes are adopted.
Baku-Kars line connects Azerbaijan
and Bulgaria
According to the Ambassador of Azerbaijan
in our country, Elman Zeinalov,
the construction of the railway line Baku-Tbilisi-Ahalkalaki-Kars
will contribute to the development of Azerbaijani-Bulgarian
relations. He pointed out that this line will help increase the exchange of
goods between the two countries and will provide Azerbaijan
with better access to the EU and the TRACECA transport corridor.
Timetable changes
for some trains
With a view to the improvement of passenger services, BDZ
EAD has extended the route of regional train No 20133, which, as of 10th March,
operates between Vratsa and Pleven,
thus providing commuting services to customers from more stations. For technological
reasons there are minimum changes in the timetable of regional train No 70101 (Mezdra-Vidin), which will depart from Mezdra
four minutes earlier.
Marketing studies of BDZ EAD show that in some regional
trains there only are a minimum number of passengers, who take only 1% of the
seating capacity of the train, i.e. the operation of these trains is
economically inefficient. For this reason, the route of two regional trains,
running between Mezdra and Gorna
Oryahovitsa, has been shortened and they will run
only between Cherven Briag
and Gorna Oryahovitsa. The
small passenger flow makes it necessary to cancel six regional trains in the
sections Levski-Svishtov, Levski-Troyan
and Vratsa-Mezdra.
Business sector
demands measures for rehabilitation of the railways
According to the representatives of the Bulgarian business
sector from BIA, the Branch Chamber for Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metallurgy, the
Bulgarian Mine and Geology Chamber, the National Transport Chamber and the
Branch Chamber of Chemical Industry, urgent measures need to be adopted for the
improvement of the railway status. These should include: revision of the
current ordinances and regulatory acts of the Ministry of Transport with a view
to the speedy elaboration of proposals to ease administrative procedures in the
decision-making process, and the undertaking of urgent actions for the
acceleration of wagon overhaul in the context of the overall improvement of the
freight-wagon fleet; the undertaking of urgent administrative measures for the completion
of the restructuring process and the clear outlining of the core business of
the new divisions of BDZ EAD; holding a meeting with the Minister of Transport
to discuss the involvement of the State in the resolution of issues in freight
rail services; overcoming the current delays and speedy utilisation
of budget means for the procurement of new wagons and the overhaul of available
wagons.
Krustets station flooded
Heavy rainfall on 23rd March flooded Krustets
station (in Triavna municipality), located on the
line section between Dubovo and Tsareva
livada. The water level above the railway lines
reached 40 cm which made it necessary to cancel train traffic for a brief
period.
Minister Petar Mutafchiev receives
Minister Ervin Huber
On 14th March, the Minister of Transport, Petar Mutafchiev, received the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure,
Transport and Technology, Erwin Huber. The two
Ministers discussed the current conditions and priority projects in the sphere
of road and rail infrastructures, as well as the various forms of
public-private partnership. They reviewed with particular attention the issues
concerning the expansion of the cross-border transport network and the Trans-European Transport Corridors X, IV and VIII. They
pointed out that an example of successful cooperation is the fact that the
experience from Rail Expo in Munich was implemented
at the organisation of the exhibition and scientific
conference for transport and logistics in February this year. Minister Huber
invited Minister Mutafchiev to visit Bavaria.
Bond credits to
rehabilitate BDZ
According to the Minister of Transport, Petar Mutafchiev, in spite of the
doubling of budget support for the reconstruction of the railway network to its
parameters of 1988, another BGN5 billion will be necessary. This is the reason
why the Ministry has decided that the railways should draw a State-guaranteed
credit of BGN70 million, which should be approved by the European commission as
admissible state support for the railways. It is expected that the deal will
take place in the current year.
In parallel, within the railway rehabilitation programme it is envisaged that BDZ will draw a bond credit
amounting to BGN170-200 million. The aim is to cover some of the outstanding
liabilities of the company and to allocate sufficient funds for the overhaul of
freight wagons and passenger coaches. The Board of Directors of BDZ has taken
the decision for the bond credit of BGN40 million, which guarantees that the utilisation of these funds will get started within three
months.
Infrastructure
projects presented at forum
The conference “Infrastructure projects in Bulgaria in
2007 – current condition and prospects”, organised by
the Foundation for Local Government Reform and the newspapers “Dnevnik” and “Stroitelstvo/Gradat”, was held on 14th-15th March in the Sheraton Hotel
and Inter Expo Centre in
Sofia. The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Assen Gagauzov, took part in the
conference, as well as the Deputy Minister of Transport, Vessela
Gospodinova, who presented to the audience the Sector
operational programme “Transport 2007-2013”. Within
one of the conference panels – “Infrastructure objects of national
significance, funded by the Cohesion Fund and Pre-Accession Funds” – the participants
discussed the “Reconstruction of Plovdiv-Svilengrad
railway line”, “Intermodal terminal at Poduene Marshalling Yard” and
“Danube Bridge 2” projects. Among the speakers were Neli
Yordanova, Director of “Programme
and project coordination” in the Ministry of Transport, and Petar
Dyakov, Director of “International Project
Management” in NRIC.
Bidder short-list
for Plovdiv-Bourgas railway line approved
On 14th March, the short-list of bidders for the project
“Technical assistance for rehabilitation of railway infrastructure in sections
of Plovdiv-Bourgas line” was approved. The
short-listed bidders are: the consortium of ILF Consulting Engineers, IBERINSA,
INECO, Transsystem Ltd. and Geotechnoengineering
Ltd.; Mott MacDonald Ltd.;
the consortium of OBERMEYER Planen+Beraten GmbH, SCETAUROUTE, SEMALY
and BEOM; the consortium of Parsons Brinckerhoff
Ltd., ST “TRAPS-Toma Yotsov”
and Transgeo Ltd.; Poyry
Infra GmbH and the consortium of SUDOP PRAHA a.s. and
Trans El Engineering S.P.
The deadline for submission of bids is 14th May and the
scope of technical assistance includes: conduction of a study to assess the
needs of railway infrastructure renovation and a review of existing feasibility
studies; elaboration of technical projects for rehabilitation of those line
sections, which are considered as priority, and improvement of signalling and telecommunications equipment; preparation of
tender documentation for the future contracts for construction works, services
and procurement. The assignment should be accomplished within 12 months.
Meetings with
railway personnel in Bourgas and Varna
On 17th March, the Executive Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov, and the Director
General of NRIC, Anton Ginev, visited Bourgas and met representatives of the railway personnel in
the Bourgas region to discuss local issues. The
meeting was attended by deputies and representatives of the trade unions as
well.
On 19th March, the Transport Minister Petar
Mutafchiev visited the Ferry complex in Varna, after which he met the personnel of Varna Locomotive Depot. The meetings were also attended by
the Executive Director of BDZ EAD, Oleg Petkov, and the Director General of NRIC, Anton Ginev. According to Minister Mutafchiev,
Bulgarian railways are in an extremely difficult situation and can hardly
endure one more failure in the reform process. He considers that in order to
retain professionals in the railway system it is necessary to repeal the state
regulation for the existing salary ranges and to introduce a differentiated
increase of the current salaries. It is expected that the differentiated salary
payment will be introduced in NRIC as of 1st April and in BDZ EAD as of 1st
June. The actual increase over the basic salary will depend upon individual
performance, working history, education, etc. and will amount between 4 and
20%.
Varna Ferry Complex needs wagons
According to the Director of Varna
Ferry Complex, Vesselin Marinov,
the current freight turnover of the complex is only 200 000 tons per year,
while 20 years ago it had reached 3.5 million tons. In order to restore at
least the half of this turnover the Ferry Complex must commission 1 200 bogies
(while currently it operates with 396), procure several dozen wagons from the
Ukraine and invest BGN450 000 for the overhaul of the lifting transit bridge.
Track repair works
between Yabalkovo and Krum
Repair works to the track between Yabalkovo
station and Krum halt, which is a section on the Plovdiv-Svilengrad line, started on 5th March. These repair
works are as per the plans of NRCI to replace the broken rib-like pads and
tighten the fittings. The facility of the track control point in Krum village, located near Dimitrovgrad,
is being cleaned with mechanical equipment.
Meeting of EU
Ministers of Transport
The Minister of Transport, Petar
Mutafchiev, took part in the meeting of the Council
of Ministers of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy in the EU, held in
Brussels. Under discussion were the problems of intermodal
transport. The German Presidency of the Council presented a report on the
contribution of the transport sector to the Lisbon Strategy in the sphere of
economic development and ecology. In Brussels Minister Mutafchiev
signed an Administrative Agreement for cooperation between the agencies,
executing control over passenger and freight services of 12 EU member-countries
(among them are Germany, France, Great Britain, Romania, Poland, Austria,
Bulgaria, etc.) He supported the EC position on the development of “Galileo” satellite positioning system. As regards the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Minister Mutafchiev
underlined the need for collective and coordinated efforts for the reduction of
impact of transport over climate change. The Minister held a number of
bilateral meetings with his counterparts and raised the issue of charges,
collected by the Romanian side of the Oryahovo-Beket
ferry link, with the Secretary of State Constantin Dascalu and was assured that the problem will be solved
promptly.
Results from the
reform will be clear in 2008
According to the Minister of Transport, Petar Mutafchiev, the results of
the current on-going reforms in the railway sector will be felt tangibly in
2008. He underlined the fact that the State will undertake its commitments for
passenger railway services after the separate division of BDZ EAD, responsible
for these services, clearly identifies the costs thereof. This will help stabilise rail passenger transport, despite the poor
condition of rolling stock.
BDZ to commission ES
64U2
At the beginning of April, the Siemens
locomotive ES 64U2 will be commissioned along the Sofia-Bourgas
line. It is a well-known fact that the locomotive was given free of charge to
BDZ EAD by the manufacturer to be operated over the course of one year and
under the condition that it will not exceed 150 thousand kilometres
altogether. The great delay in its commissioning is due to unclear provisions
as to the insurance of the locomotive, which is among the latest Siemens-built machines.