Freight priority
DB Cargo CEO says rail freight is not receiving sufficient priority, with planning affected by timetabling isues.
RAIL freight is not receiving the priority it should, according to DB Cargo UK Chief Executive HansGeorg Werner.
In an exclusive interview with RAIL, Werner said discussions are ongoing between the UK’s largest freight operator and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regarding access charges.
He also confirmed there are concerns regarding the impact on rail freight of the May timetable chaos, and that the planned rollover of eight train operating company’s timetables this December could have a similar effect.
He said: “In Germany they are cutting access charges for all freight trains by 50%. We are in discussions with the Office of Rail and Road - the first suggestion wasn’t accepted, and the second is OK, it will give us some time. Let’s see how we develop.”
On the timetable issues, Werner said that DB’s planning capacity has been massively affected. All paths were bid for within the timeframe, but uncertainty remains over whether they can be accepted.
He said that original plans had to be cancelled and redone, after the bids were submitted. This affected the company’s small planning team: “There are only two or three in DB, and they had to plan holidays and redo everything - it made one staff member cry. Everything they did was for nothing.”
He said that for the December timetable changes, DB remains committed to its customers: “If there are cancellations, then that will have an impact on the business. We as a rail industry have addressed Paul McMahon [Managing Director, Freight and National Passenger Operators], and have said we will blame Network Rail.”
Werner confirmed that DB does, however, recognise the wider issues affecting the industry. He was appointed chairman of the Rail Delivery Group freight board in June, and is working on behalf of the industry - as well as his own company - to identify solutions.
“We recognise the issues and are happy to support Network Rail to try and resolve this,” he said.
However, he had a warning for the infrastructure company: “If necessary we’ll ask customers to align with us. If they want, they can have a storm.”
Werner is concerned that NR is more worried about the impact on passengers, but believes that these will return - unlike freight customers.
“A customer will make a contract for one, two or five years,” he said. “If the service is poor, it takes a long time to come back.”
ORR figures have revealed a 10% decline in the volume of freight lifted by DB in the first quarter of 2018-19, compared with the corresponding quarter 12 months earlier, and Werner confirmed that he was looking at different ways for the business to grow in the
wake of what has been a difficult two years.
DBC has undergone a restructuring resulting in 893 job losses, and more staff have also left. GB Railfreight, Colas Railfreight and Freightliner all recorded increases in volume as DB declined.
“We are definitely not the big dominant firm anymore, and we have to develop,” Werner told RAIL.
“How do we get into intermodal more? Nobody makes a lot in that as everyone wants money - the shippers, the ports, the railway, the trucks and the hub, and so there is little money left.
“The big distances make the money. If you are only travelling 100 miles the costs remain, but if you travel 1,000 miles then the costs are small. In Germany I set up trains to China and eastern Europe, and from France to Turkey.” @Clinnick1 See Feature, RAIL 866. ■