Ceske drahy cargo transport is going up

Czech state-run rail operator Ceske drahy said yesterday it raised cargo transport in the first half of the year 12.4 percent year-on-year to 41.87 million tonnes.

The amount increased after years on the decline, said Rodan Senekl, deputy chief executive for cargo transport. The improvement was due to a favourable situation on the market for steel products and iron. Ceske drahy registered a growth mainly in transport of iron, black coal and coke, but also in combined transport. Senekl added producers were also looking for an alternative to road transport ahead of the launch of electronic toll on Czech motorways.

Preliminary sales from cargo transport grew by 1.3 percent year-on-year to CZK 8.09 billion in the first half, but the final volume will be higher because payments above all from foreign railways are delayed. Ceske drahy covers about 90 percent of the Czech market for railway cargo transport. Railways make up about 25 percent of total cargo transport. The rest is covered mainly by road transport. Ceske drahy is the fifth largest rail cargo transporter in the EU.

If the current growth lasts, Ceske expects to transport about 84 tonnes of cargo this year, a growth of some 10 percent year-on-year. The number of combined transport trains has been growing. Ceske now runs 12 trains of this kind. The company plans to separate cargo transport out to an independent unit called CD Cargo as of July 1, 2007 to make financial flows inside the company more transparent. It may also begin to look for a strategic investor for this unit.

Ceske drahy also raised passenger transport to 91.77 million passengers in the first half, a growth of almost 2 million people year-on-year. Revenues from passenger transport added 1.6 percent to CZK 2.38 billion in the period. But the company said it still expected full-year losses worth hundreds of millions of crowns.