Everybodyaa‚¬a„¢s doing the high-speed locomotion at Berlin transport fair

While emerging markets ink billion-euro contracts for high-speed transportation trains and trams that were on show at the largest transportation fair, InnoTrans, held in Berlin, CEE has been flagged up by specialists for potential growth in the near future. Romania needs to put EUR 3 billion into the refurbishment of key elements, especially for the Constanta-Western Europe line. At InnoTrans, local firm Remarul 16 Februarie came with two modernized trains. Despite the efforts of local firms to give their products an international audience, the Transport Ministry did not send a representative to the event.

Dana Ciuraru in Berlin

A hour’s ride to cover a 400 km journey (for instance, from Bucharest to Iasi) on board a top-speed commercial train which can reach 420 km/h and accommodate 600 passengers, has incorporated ECO4 solutions such as a thermo-efficient acclimatization system, aero-efficient optimized train shaping, an energy management control system and a customized front-end design and interior layouts – this is no longer something from a SF movie.

The Zefiro 380 from Bombardier is currently the fastest railway vehicle in operation in the world. The model was presented at InnoTrans fair, the Berlin event that gathered some 19,000 major companies in the field and 100,000 visitors. Top international transport companies presented their latest technologies in the areas of urban and cross-border transportation which meet requirements such as fuel savings, eco friendliness, noise reduction and comfort.

Bombardier presented the Dual Power locomotive with both diesel and electric engines, Siemens came with a locomotive fully made in Munich, which has an improved engine with lower carbon dioxide emissions, while Alstom revealed the new generation of Prima electric freight locomotives designed for cross-border journeys.

However, it was the high-speed offers from all transporters that attracted the most interest. According to Andre Navarri, president and COO of Bombardier Transportation, in August 2010, Bombardier, along with its Italian partner AnsaldoBreda, secured selected supplier status for the delivery of 50 V300ZEFIRO trains to Italian Railways (Trenitalia). The V300ZEFIRO has a capacity of 600 passengers and is capable of commercial speeds of up to 360 km/h. It is fully interoperable and will provide a cross-border service taking Trenitalia’s passengers to other European countries, without the need to change trains.

For Bombardier, orders with a total project cost of EUR 1.5 billion have come in the past few years from the Ministry of Railways in China (MOR).

CEE sees rising demand

But while China and India are the most important markets generating billion-euro contracts for major international transportation companies, officials say that Central and East European (CEE) markets should not be overlooked as there is growing demand from this region.

“In CEE there are no projects in transportation in which we could invest, except in Poland. But I believe that the transportation market in CEE has a high growth potential, especially as CEE countries can apply for European funds,” said Navarri.

Moreover, Janis Vitins, director of marketing and product planning for electric locomotives at Bombardier, added, “This year we have seen a 20 percent hike in traffic on railways in CEE and as such the need for new locomotives has increased as local operators will need cross-border transportation from Constanta harbor to Western Europe.”

Local transportation sector needs billion-euro facelift

In Romania the majority of the fleet is old across all transportation segments and operators have spoken on various occasions about the required investments. For instance, CFR has to replace some 271 old locomotives and 370 diesel and electric cadres by 2012. Currently, there are 46 diesel cadres from the entire fleet which are less than 20 years old. Specialists say that the development of all transportation segments in these regions will depend largely on national policy.

Quoting estimations from the Transport Ministry, Stefan Roseanu, general secretary of the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF), said that in the next 12 to 18 months Romania will need to launch bids of some EUR 2 billion to refurbish the infrastructure of the railways from the border with Hungary to Sighisoara. The country will

need an additional EUR 1 billion for new subway locomotives and wagons.

“These auctions have been blocked by the Transport Ministry for the past four years. Out of this sum the government would have to come up with EUR 1.5 billion, while the rest should be attracted from European funds,” said Roseanu.

Jean Berge, vice-president of passengers at Bombardier Transportation, announced that the company was interested in providing subway trains for the local subway company. “Metrorex will organize a tender next year to modernize the fleet for several lines. We will address the Romanian transportation market along with local partners and we are currently in discussions with them.”

However, as the Romanian Central Bank recently ruled out the chances of economic recovery in 2011, the big question is where the money will come from.

Romania’s presence at InnoTrans not supported by Transport Ministry

Romania was presented at InnoTrans fair with two stands: one of Remarul 16 Febriarie Cluj and one of the AIF which gathered seven companies out of the total 25 companies members of the AIF: Inda Craiova, Ateliere CFR Grivita, Remarul Pascani, Spiac Craiova, Viotop and Eximprod Buzau. Remarul 16 Febriarie Cluj has presented two modernized locomotives, out of which one is Carpathia 2300 DE, a unique model.

“This is the first modernized locomotive that we made and it is sold to CFR Marfa. Some of the advantages of these refurbished locomotives are lower carbon dioxide emissions as this locomotive uses a caterpillar engine, the price for such a unit represents some 65 to 70 percent from the value of a new locomotive and the maintenance costs are lower. For this locomotive 60 percent of the parte are made in Romania and 40 percent are imported. The modernization process takes 6 months,” Horea Galos, technical director at Remarul 16 Febriarie Cluj told BR.

According to him, if for an eco friendly locomotive which comes under a important brand for this market the buyer has to pay some EUR 5 million, for a modernized unit the price is at some EUR 2 million, for the same motorization. The machines have raised the interest of French, Polish ad private operators from Germany.

Also, Remarul Pascani came with the new Acvila wagon, a two floor wagon launched last year, for medium passengers’ traffic. “We offer reconstruction services for wagons. What Acvila bring new is the design which hi impact on the young people segment. This wagon is currently used by CFR Calatori on Iasi-Bacau route,” said Catalin Cornea, GM at Remarul Pascani.

Although InnoTrans gathers top companies and governments officials, not one representative from the Transport Ministry came at InnoTrans.

“Up until the second day of the InnoTrans none the Transport Ministry officials haven’t came to the fair. Regarding the participation at InnoTrans the Transport Ministry helped us in the sense that it hasn’t tangled us,” said Stefan Roseanu, AIF’s general secretary.