Transport, page 18
30,400 cars drive toll roads daily
ON AVERAGE, 30,428 motor vehicles drove toll roads daily in Slovakia in February. Compared with January, this represented a 9.7-percent increase.
E-tolls fetched nearly €160 million
THE ELECTRONIC toll scheme, which targets motor vehicles above 3.5 tonnes on tolled roads in Slovakia, fetched €159 million in total in 2013, up 2.3 percent y/y, the toll company SkyToll reported as cited by the TASR newswire.
Air transport poses challenges
PASSENGER air transport is still trying to find its place even as Slovakia has witnessed the grounding of several operators in recent years. The challenge emanating from low-cost carriers, the concentration of demand for air transport in Bratislava and western Slovakia, offers from nearby foreign airports and the years of economic crisis mean that frequent change has been the reality.Most recently, the Danube Wings airline halted its passenger air transportation. After four years of operation it first closed down its Bratislava-Košice routes in late November 2013, before ceasing all other flights in December.
Institutions and organisations of transport in Slovakia
-Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, www.telecom.gov.sk-Association of Road Transport Operators of the Slovak Republic (ČESMAD), www.cesmad.sk-Slovak Union of Motor Carriers (UNAS), www.uniadopravcov.sk-Transport Research Institute (VÚD), www.vud.sk-Electronic Toll Collection system, www.emyto.sk
Regional airport needs money
THE TRANSPORT Ministry lacks the money to operate regional airports in the cabinet-approved state budget for 2014, and is currently contemplating closing some of them, but hopes this will not be necessary, the SITA newswire wrote on October 14.
Rise in cargo transport expected
SLIMMED-down fleets of road cargo transporters might not be enough to satisfy an expected increase in demand fuelled by the revival of the economy in 2014. As a consequence this might bring higher prices in transport. This is one of the findings of a survey which DKV Euro Services conducted among directors of European branches of transporters. Eight directors managing branches of transport companies in 15 European countries participated in the survey in early summer 2013, the TASR newswire wrote.
Cabinet wants tramcar back
THE ROBERT Fico cabinet would like to see the tramcar connecting Trenčianska Teplá and Trenčianske Teplice back in operation, a wish echoed by ministers in a special cabinet session in nearby Handlová earlier in October.
Institutions and organisations in transport in Slovakia
-Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, www.telecom.gov.sk-Association of Road Transport Operators of the Slovak Republic (ČESMAD), www.cesmad.sk-Slovak Union of Motor Carriers (UNAS), www.uniadopravcov.sk-Transport Research Institute (VÚD), www.vud.sk -Electronic Toll Collection system, www.emyto.sk
New terminal opens in Pezinok
A NEW terminal for passenger integrated transport was put into operation in Pezinok in early September. The €428,000-terminal should help passengers to travel in the region more easily.
Changes to electronic toll collection
FOUR YEARS since its launch the state will revamp its electronic toll collection system to extend the network of tolled roads, push trucks away from regional routes and incentivise more environment-friendly vehicles.
Building of industrial space reflects economy
SLOVAKIA’S industrial space market has the lowest vacancy rate in central Europe. Market watchers say this rate reflects the current economic situation and high competition in the region, and believe prospects are good for building new industrial space along highways around Žilina and Košice.
New logistics terminal in Strečno
THE DB SCHENKER company opened a new 3,000 square metre logistics terminal in Strečno, near Žilina, in late June. This will enable the company to create new infrastructure and modernise its existing infrastructure, the company’s general director, Dietmar Smickl, said during the ceremony, the TASR newswire wrote.
Cargo Slovakia to reorganise
THE STATE-owned railway freight company, Železničná Spoločnosť Cargo Slovakia (ZSSK Cargo), will spin its auxiliary activities off into subsidiaries to make its operation more effective, reduce its debt and increase competitiveness.
Online shopping poses challenges
WITH people increasingly favouring online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores, internet shoppers are seeking ever shorter delivery times for their purchases. As a consequence, retail and its related sectors of transportation, logistics, storage and even real estate, have had to adapt to this change.
Untapped Danube
A RECENT study called the Danube Axis, elaborated by the OECD, maintains that the Danube River offers a lot of untapped potential for exports as well as the development of cities that lie along it.
Geis has a new central office
THE GEIS group, a complex logistics services provider, opened a €7 million new central office in Zvolen in early July.
Košice seeks new air link to London
KOŠICE, which is one of two holders of the title European City of Culture 2013, wants to be connected by air with London in order to attract more foreign tourists. Košice Turizmus, the local destination management company, is offering subsidies to stimulate air carriers to open the line, the local Korzár daily wrote on April 9.
ChemLog shows Slovakia’s potential
A RECENTLY completed three-year project looking at chemical logistics in central Europe, ChemLog, has presented the potential of Slovakia to interconnect the combined transport networks of the EU, Ukraine and Russia. It showed that trains using combined transport could go via Slovakia as far as China, the Revue Priemyslu industrial monthly wrote in March.
Will Slovakia get broad-gauge rail line?
RUSSIAN Railways believes that a broad-gauge railway line will be extended to western Europe. While a route via Slovakia remains the most likely option, other countries are interested in having the line traverse their territories too, and the plan to extend the broad-gauge railway network continues to raise geopolitical, economic and financial questions.
Postal services freed up – but to what effect?
WHILE the Slovak postal market became fully liberalised only as of 2012, the fierce competition that reduced prices and increased the quality of services began much earlier with the liberalisation of so-called hybrid mail. But due to its longstanding monopoly position, Slovenská Pošta, the state-controlled mail operator, continues to dominate the mail market. Competition is strongest in the express mail and parcel sectors.
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