Transport, page 21
Not all wrinkles ironed out of e-toll system
SLOVAKIA launched its electronic highway toll collection system for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes more than a year ago. While the impacts of the new system on truckers and road cargo transport companies have not been fully assessed, it is clear that politics were intermingled with its launch, that the system was constructed in a short period, and that its debut during the deep economic downturn have been factors in its ongoing criticism. Some problematic issues will likely remain unresolved until more information from the past year’s operation points to specific ways to improve the system. And a transportation expert looking at the e-toll system from a broader point of view says the opportunity to use it as a regulatory tool has not yet been fully tapped.
Bratislava Airport to be leased
SLOVAKIA plans to lease Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Bratislava Airport – to a concessionaire for a period of 30 years, Transport Minister Ján Figeľ said after a government session on March 16. The minister stated that the process – choosing a suitable consultant with international experience and preparing a tender to seek the concessionaire – should be completed by June 2012, the TASR newswire wrote.
Flights to 25 destinations from capital
REGULAR flights to 25 destinations in 13 countries as well as flights to Košice will be offered from Bratislava Airport between March 27 and October 29, the SITA newswire reported. Eight airline companies – Ryanair, Danube Wings, Czech Airlines, Polish Airlines, Travel Service, El Al (Sun d'Or International), Armavia and Belle Air will operate scheduled flights from Bratislava Airport.
Railway companies in Slovakia
Železničná Spoločnosť Cargo Slovakia (ZSSK Cargo)– the state-owned railway cargo company
Institutions and organisations in transport and logistics in Slovakia
Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, www.telecom.gov.sk
Revamping the railways
STATE-OWNED railway company ZSSK Cargo has started implementing mass layoffs. The company’s general director, Pavol Ďuriník, confirmed on March 30 that about 150 workers will lose their jobs in early April, to be followed by 200 more in early June, 700 in early July and another 700 by the end of 2011. Altogether ZSSK Cargo will eliminate 1,800 positions from its total labour force of about 9,000.
Cabinet discusses broad-gauge rail
THE SLOVAK cabinet on March 16 discussed a report reviewing some of the results of a feasibility study about extending a broad-gauge railway track across Slovakia from Košice to Vienna via Bratislava. A broad-gauge railway track already runs from the Slovak-Ukrainian border to Košice.
Logistics firms broaden scope of operation
MANY COMPANIES are now beginning to understand that the logistics business is no longer only about transportation and storage of goods and materials. This knowledge is pulling suppliers of logistics and forwarding services more into the role of consultants – advising about how logistics processes can influence decisions about what, where and how a company produces its goods. While most large international companies are already aware that well-organised logistics bring innumerable benefits, small and medium-sized companies are just beginning to realise the potential of better logistics management.
Some companies active in logistics and forwarding in Slovakia
Dachser Slovakia, www.dachser.sk
Poprad Airport without regular flights
THE INTERNATIONAL airport in Poprad has lost its last remaining commercial air carrier, at least for the winter months. Danube Wings airline cancelled its regular service between Poprad and Bratislava which was the airport’s last remaining scheduled route.
Strategic partners eyed for state-owned airport and cargo firm
THE CHANGE of drivers at the wheel of government in July has re-opened the issue of privatisation of several state-owned companies operating in the transportation sector. The cabinet under the previous prime minister, Robert Fico, categorically opposed privatisation of what it called strategic companies. After taking office it cancelled the privatisation of Bratislava Airport and swept aside a proposal to sell a majority stake in the state-owned cargo railway company. Reacting to the failure of these state-owned companies to operate without losses, the cabinet of Iveta Radičová is now re-opening the door to strategic partners to be players in these two state-owned companies.
ZSSK faces competition in passenger rail transport
IT SEEMS that the dominance of the state-owned railway company Železničná Spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK) is coming to an end. Two private companies have unveiled plans to begin new rail services between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This decision shows that there is space to grow Slovak railway transport – but also places a question mark over some of the state subsidies paid to the loss-making ZSSK.
Institutions and organisations covering transport and logistics in Slovakia
Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications
Italian firm plans logistics centre
THE ITALIAN company Codognotto Slovensko, which operates in road transport and logistics, is planning to order the building of a logistics centre near Trnava with total construction costs of about €38 million. The new centre is expected to offer about 530 new jobs after it is completed, the SITA newswire wrote.
Cancelled PPP project will cost €81m
THE TRANSPORT ministry will need to pay €81 million to settle obligations stemming from the now-cancelled concessionaire agreement with Slovenské Diaľnice for construction and operation of sections of the D1 highway that made up the so-called first public-private partnership (PPP) package. The state will make this settlement for preparatory work that was completed, for conservation of the construction sites, as well as for consultants and technical assistance to the National Highway Company, experts’ opinions and property purchases, the SITA newswire wrote.
Lower speed limit on six-lane highway
ONE year after the highway between Bratislava and Trnava was broadened to three lanes in each direction, drivers are now being ordered to drive at a lower speed. Because of the heavy traffic between the two cities and the absence of usable shoulders or emergency stopping areas on the road Transport Minister Ján Figeľ is proposing to lower the speed limit from 130 kilometres per hour to 110 from November 1.
Railway companies in Slovakia
Železničná Spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK)
Institutions and organisations covering transport and logistics in Slovakia
Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications
Rail companies’ re-merger planned
AFTER Slovakia’s railway giant was split into three entities in 2002 and 2005, a plan to reverse the process has now emerged. The government argues that establishing a holding company to bring the railway infrastructure operator and the passenger and cargo railway companies back under one roof would ensure the optimal functioning and competitiveness of the firms. The Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications estimates that losses in the railway sector in 2010 will amount to €290 million, after subsidies are taken into consideration.
Water transport awaits discovery in Slovakia
INTERNATIONAL studies rank water transport as having some of the best development potential for the shipment of goods. It is cheap and its environmental impact is the lowest of all kinds of transport. Even though it is relatively slow, and thus not suitable for shipment of all kinds of goods, the recent trend towards multimodal transport and containerisation of cargo considerably extends the list of goods suitable for transportation by ship. In Slovakia, water transport has great potential since neither current existing capacities nor opportunities for new waterways have so far been fully utilised.
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