Future development of Czech railway infrastructure

1. Future development of Czech railway infrastructure Jindřich Kušnír Ministry of Transport, Czech Republic

2. Transport Policy of the Czech Republic • Transport policy for 2014-2020 with forecast up to 2050: • transport sector‘s top strategic document for the upcoming period • will be based on European transport policy represented by the new White Paper and assessment of the existing Transport Policy for 2005-2013 • deadline for submitting to Government: 31 December 2012 • Transport sector strategies: • preparation of the infrastructure policy • setting clear priorities for the realization of transport constructions, conceptual framework for planning and realization of constructions • coordination of needs and available resources • main tool for preparation of the future operational program, precondition of the EU to continue financing • deadline: 28 February 2013

3. EU transport policy White Paper on EU transport: • today’s railway: • insufficient attractiveness • not using its potential • future railway: • increase of market share in passenger and freight transport for medium and long distances • lower oil dependence of transport system • improvement of capacity and quality of railways – precondition of competitiveness • tools: • development of infrastructure • development of technologies • single transport market • harmonizing of conditions between transport modes

4. Czech railway system - current situation • very dense network, but ... • low speed parameters, low competitiveness, low market share • upgrade of existing lines: • brings better quality, but ... • limited increase of speed (only up to 160 kph) • not competitive with highways • convenient for freight and regional services but not long-distance travel • not enough capacity: • especially in suburban areas • also on some frequent corridors attractive for open-access operators • problems of co-existence of different types other traffic • discussions about whether high-speed is the solution or not

5. Infrastructure - Tools • Revision of TEN-T network: • draft of the Regulation is being negotiated right now • division of TEN-T network to core and comprehensive networks • railways: parallel priority networks for passenger and freight transport • Freight corridors (Regulation(EU) No. 913/2010): • obligatory cooperation within predefined freight corridors • coordination of investments, capacity allocation, marketing strategies, … • Interoperability: • real possibility to liberalize the market by gradually meeting common standards (TSIs) and thus removing technical barriers between the infrastructure and the vehicles all over the EU • TSIs for TEN-T completed; TSIs for extended system are being prepared now • EU funds: • CEF (Connecting Europe Facility): only for core network, strong preference of railways, competition between projects of various countries, co-financing 20-40 % • „Cohesion“ CEF: additionally for countries with GDP below 90% of EU average, co-financing up to 85 % • Cohesion fund: for countries with GDP below 90% of EU average, for the whole network, each country has „its own“ volume of funds, co-financing up to 85 %

6. Infrastructure - Priorities • Based on the national and European transport policy, the Czech Republic has to focus on the following objectives in the area of infrastructure: • Corridors and nodes should be completed • New fast backbone of long-distance transport • Capacity and speed for freight transport • Meeting basic requirements of interoperability • Connection of Prague Airport to the railway • Capacity for suburban transport services • Improvement of parameters of the rest of the network • Electrification of rail systems • Technology development • Utilization of regional lines

7. Infrastructure - Priorities • Completion of modernization of corridors and nodes • as much as possible constructions should be completed within existing Transport Operational Programme • some constructions, however, will be completed in the next fiscal period • New fast freight transport backbone • new TEN-T policy expects that competitiveness of railway will increase due to building/modernization of high-speed lines (200 kph and more) • essential for the railway to become a passenger transport backbone • in the Czech Rep., the concept is elaborated in the form of the so-called rapid services (RS) • pilot project 200 kph • priority Praha – Lovosice (core network), • Praha – Brno – Přerov (partly core network), • Plzeň – Domažlice (depends on Germany) + preparation of other sections • very important, as the existing linescapacity could be allocated to freight transport

8. Infrastructure - Priorities • 3. Capacity and speed for freight transport • development of freight corridor concept • utilization of existing modernized corridors particularly + other important lines • new capacity for freight transport by relocating long-distance transport to RSlines • 2014-2020: particularly lineKolín – Nymburk – Děčín and other lines will have to be modernized • to maintain free capacity for freight transport development • support of sidings and terminals = sources of transport demand • 4. Meeting basic requirements of interoperability • ETCS primarily in transit direction • removal of other barriers (infrastructure gauge, axle load etc.) • higher transit attractiveness = better chance of co-financing other investments • proposed as one of the areas supported by the new operational programme

9. Infrastructure - Priorities • 5. Connection of Prague Airport to the railway • obligation required by TEN-T • Ruzyně is the only airport of comparable size (moreover, located in the capital city) that is not connected to the railway • passage through Prague 6 and 7 – unacceptable increase of costs – economically sustainable solution must be found (CBA) • possible phasing of construction from Kladno to the centre of Prague • it should be realized at once, without making provisional investment to the existing track • 6. Capacity for suburban transport services • development of suburban transport (interval 10-15 min) • slowing long-distance trains – delays would pass to suburban trains • „fast“ and „slow“ transport should be separated – gradual construction of RSlinesor other rail systems

10. Infrastructure - Priorities • 7. Improvement of parameters of the rest of network • infrastructure should be enhanced not only by „big“ projects, but also minor measures (investment and non-investment); financing mainly from national funds • increasing speed in the existing path: modern vehicles = faster travelling around curves + coding = speed above 100 kph • removal of speed drops (slow runs, crossings) • minor investments – exchange stations, crossovers etc. • important also from the perspective of tenders being prepared by the Ministry of Transport (higher speed = less vehicles needed = savings on compensations for railway undertakings) • 8. Electrification • electric traction independent on oil, lower traction costs, shorter travel time • necessary particularly in: • on lines with freight transport • on lines with strong suburban transport • development of integrated branches in electric traction (electrification of „the last few kilometres“ – elimination of unnecessary engine swap) • in future – possible switch to the only one traction system 25 kV 50 Hz

11. Infrastructure - Priorities • 9. Technology development • ETCS, GSM-R; questionable in the network outside the TEN-T • remote control: • priority on busy lines – more effective control of the infrastructure capacity • gradually the whole network • control of transport in nodes – shorter braking distances, automatic route setting • telematic systems • 10. Utilization of regional lines • depends on the policy of regions • lines with strong potential should be separated from less promising lines • promising lines should have higher speed: running through certain stations + removal of speed drops during maintenance • often used not only for commutation, but also tourist services (bicycles, skis) – development of economically weak regions

12. Preparation of projects – points of departure • Lack of national funds – majority of projects (particularly from circles 1-6) will be submitted in order to be co-financed from EU funds • Projects – both planned and reserve – must be prepared in time • Pressure on quality of projects and associated documentation: • compliance with priorities of national and EU transport policy will be required – projects with higher added value, not only „better maintenance“ for investment funds • requirement of positive CBA – we cannot focus only on partial modifications of tracks. Instead, it is necessary to take line sections comprehensively in order to justify benefits within the CBA (higher capacity, higher speed, lower traction costs, improvement of safety etc.) • parameters of TEN-T network, interoperability and other compulsory requirements must be met – sometimes this is in contradiction with the requirement of positive CBA (the methodology is being tackled right now) • If the Czech railway sector will not be able to generate enough good projects, then other means of transport and other countries will benefit!!!

13. Thank you for your attention Jindřich Kušnír