DavidB-AU Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 European Commission announced on May 13 that it had approved a shareholders’ agreement which will see French national railway SNCF acquire sole management control of cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd. This approval is subject to commitments which are designed to facilitate the entry of new operators on the London – Brussels/Paris routes. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/high-speed/single-view/view/european-commission-approves-sncf-control-of-eurostar.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I've got a comment: When is the European Commission going to demolish the French and German railway monopolies? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm not sure i'd say "demolished", but neither is what it was, with open access freight in both, and open access passenger in Germany at least? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 open access freight in both, and open access passenger in Germany That isn't quite how Lord Berkeley portrays it in the current Railway Magazine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I haven't read that, is what I wrote untrue? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I don't have it to hand to refer to but the thrust of his op-ed piece was that they'd only paid lip service to the principle of competition and essentially set things up so it was impossible for anyone to compete except themselves. If I think on, I'll look it out when I get home and refresh my memory. It is, of course, his opinion, but he understands a great deal more about the intricacies of it than I do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 In that case, I agree with the premise that there appears to be some obstructionism*, though I stand by my original comment - i'd written it in that qualified way deliberately, not accidentally. I would disagree with the premise that it's impossible to run open access freight in France, as there are companies doing just that (it's been home to lots of red and gold 66s for several years now for example!) - access may well be harder to achieve than it needs to be, but that's not the same thing as impossible...Germany appears to be reasonably in tune with open access freight - passenger is more complicated, they have locally funded services which are franchised in a similar way to the UK, but a national operator doing longer distance. You'll find plenty of folk moaning about how it's done over here so i'm going to stay out of whether what they do is better or not! *As arguably there is over here too on the passenger side, how many new open access passenger services have been proposed in the last 5 years, and how many have been approved...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Most private operators tend to avoid France as much as possible. Not in freight and logistics. ECR run over 160 locos and Europorte run just under 100, to name the two biggest operators. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 14, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 14, 2015 In that case, I agree with the premise that there appears to be some obstructionism*, though I stand by my original comment - i'd written it in that qualified way deliberately, not accidentally. I would disagree with the premise that it's impossible to run open access freight in France, as there are companies doing just that (it's been home to lots of red and gold 66s for several years now for example!) - access may well be harder to achieve than it needs to be, but that's not the same thing as impossible... Germany appears to be reasonably in tune with open access freight - passenger is more complicated, they have locally funded services which are franchised in a similar way to the UK, but a national operator doing longer distance. You'll find plenty of folk moaning about how it's done over here so i'm going to stay out of whether what they do is better or not! *As arguably there is over here too on the passenger side, how many new open access passenger services have been proposed in the last 5 years, and how many have been approved...? Right on the ball I think Martin. The French Govt/SNCF (in its two parts) have been far from helpful regarding open access for passenger trains and that was very obviously going to be the case right from the start so I suspect it probably still remains difficult for passenger services (although different for freight as you have shown). But then as you say open access passenger operation has not really advanced massively in any European country, including here, notwithstanding the fact that the entire European timetabling system and procedures were altered to facilitate it over a decade ago (I was one of the national reps who signed off the new procedures). I suspect one of the reasons is because it often sits in a 'too difficult' drawer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernman46 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 A leading French transport consultant said............... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm sorry, but I'm with Lord Berkeley on this one. Speaking plainly, it's just another example of French and German "do as I say, not as I do". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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