SBB Cargo expands International Business: With 83% of its business accounted for by import, export, or transit traffic, SBB Cargo is concentrating on expanding its International Business - Switzerland

International Railway Journal, Dec, 2001 by Mike Knutton

LIBERALISATION in the railway industry has left SBB Cargo no choice other than to aim for greater internationalisation. "But we see it more as an opportunity than an imposition. Indeed, we support it with enthusiasm," Mr Hans-Peter Hadorn, SBB Cargo's head of strategic planning told me in Bern.

The main international routes are north-south between Antwerp/Rotterdam, Cologne, Mannheim, Basle, Bologna, and further south in Italy. Most plans for developing traffic, of which a massive 63% is transit traffic through Switzerland, relate to creating railfreight without borders in this corridor. They include new products, a new alliance in Germany, and a unique operation cooperation in northern Italy.

This last initiative follows the decision to abandon merger plans between SBB Cargo and the freight division of Italian Railways, Trenitalia Cargo. "We re-appraised the potential for a full merger but came to the conclusion that for both technical and cultural reasons this step would be too early. So while the courtship continues, the wedding has been postponed," Hadorn said.

One of the most visible aspects of the concentration on international traffic was the recent centralisation of SBB Cargo's operations in Basle. "We want to be close to the international freight business and Basle has many transit companies and customers. It is also a freight hub for Germany and France," Hadorn said. Operations with DB will be integrated from January 2002 and with French National Railways (SNCF) at a later date.

At the moment SBB Cargo's biggest partner in the north is German Rail (DB). This cooperation, mainly in combined transport, will continue but SBB Cargo has also formed a new alliance with Hafen und Guterverkehr Koln (HGK), a transhipment company that also operates a 102km railway with 70 direct sidings in the Cologne area.

HGK transports about 6 millions tonnes of freight a year (about one-tenth of SBB Cargo's volume) and has 38 locomotives and 467 wagons. Thirty-three of the locomotives are authorised to run over DB tracks while five are authorised for Netherlands Railways' (NS) tracks.

Hadorn explained that the alliance was not intended to compete with DB but to win new traffic from road and waterways. "We will develop new products with HGK based on the one-stop-shop concept on the core corridor and branches off it," he added.

The original goal of the now-failed merger with Trenitalia Cargo--improving the quality of north-south cross-border traffic-- remains, but has taken a different direction with a unique operating agreement in which SBB Cargo becomes responsible for operating international freight trains in northern Italy.

The initiative involves using SBB's methods and techniques for timetabling and documentation under an integrated transport plan, though there are still Trenitalia locomotives and rolling stock, and Trenitalia retains responsibility for trains going to destinations south of Milan.

SBB already controls the Chiasso-Lecco corridor, which handles a lot of steel traffic. Under the old system, returning steel trains went via Milan, but now it operates more like a merry-go-round operation. Next year, SBB Cargo will take over responsibility for trains heading for and beyond Novara via Luino, and Lotschberg traffic using the Domodossola-Vittuone corridor.

One of the main ideas of this North Italy feeder project is to facilitate faster border crossings. Hadorn noted that they had some "heavy procedures" at the Italian border that need streamlining. Container and piggyback trains were normally cleared in 30 to 60 minutes, but other types of train took two or three hours. "We want to get that down to the best-practice times of 30 or 60 minutes," said Hadorn.

Interoperability is a key component in smooth cross-border operations, and while SBB has the same traction current as DB and Austrian Federal Railways (OBB), signalling and some communications systems are different. "We are trying step by step to develop an international operating concept for traction. We have launched this with DB Cargo and, already, freight locomotives are changed at Singen 60km inside Germany instead of at the border at Schaffhausen. This was an easy start because the line has both signalling systems installed," Hadorn explained.

The next step, in spring next year, will be on the single-track Luino line in Italy. And the third, and most important step, which is currently being prepared with DB, is for through-running from Germany to Italy via Basle from 2003. "We are also negotiating with SNCF but there is a problem because the number of bi-current locomotives is very limited, and they are coming to the end of their working lives," Hadorn said.

SBB Cargo has just started a locomotive and rolling stock investment programme for international services. The rolling stock fleet is 20-30 years old but also needs renewing because changing markets demand different types of wagon. "In the next five to 10 years we shall design new types such as high-quality closed wagons for our new Cargo Express service, and wagons capable of higher speeds for combined traffic. The general thrust for higher speed will also involve traction, infrastructure, and timetabling, but we must raise speeds to make the most of infrastructure capacity," Hadorn explained.