Switzerland : losses jobs and cost reductions for SBB
12/11/2015
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has launched the plan RailFit
20/30 to address expected increases in the cost of operating its rail network, by
cutting expenditure of his maintenance by SFr 550m by 2020 and SFr 1.75bn by
2030. To calculate the savings potential, the SBB take the help of the
consulting firm McKinsey. The railway company is likely to cut 900 jobs on the
28,000 jobs currently managed in the group. In a statement, Swiss Federal
Railways said the measures were “a
response to the large increase in costs of the rail system as the costs of
other modes of transport experience a marked decrease”. The overall cost of
the Swiss rail system is expected to rise sharply until 2030, it said, and as a
result that SBB must take steps to remain competitive.
In last September, the Federal Council made known that SBB
will have to cover themselves incremental costs of the railway infrastructure
in 2016. Indeed, the budget increase of SFr 100 to 130 million francs required
by the Federal Railways falls overboard. And nothing is expected for the coming
years.
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| (photo SBB) |
The plan RailFit 20/30 includes
cuts to general overheads, administration and distribution costs. According
Andreas Meyer, the cost-cutting will not come at the cost of customer
satisfaction, safety and quality but by making better use of new technologies
and automation. “An additional reduction (of
jobs after 2020) is likely to be needed," said the CEO of SBB.
It is interesting to note that the best railway model in the
world, is also facing to the same causes and the same consequences. Public
subsidies have a political and a logical limit. This demonstrates the reality
of the railway : a fantastic technology but not really cheap...
As report International
Railway Journal, with only moderate or minor increases in fares possible,
RailFit20/30 will look at cutting costs in all areas and will review current
service and operational concepts, including increasing the utilisation of SBB's
train fleet. That reminds the Ouigo SNCF concept, where TGV trainsets are used
twice more than the normal time. This can require a profound change in the
maintenance of rolling stock, and therefore of the workshops.
This plan, unique in Switzerland, demonstrates the
importance of the railway infrastructure and especially its cost-efficiency.
This phenomenon is general in Europe while some commentators claimed that rail
liberalization had resulted in increased public subsidies. In reality, this is
not the liberalization that has put the costs on the rise, but well the minimum
investment in infrastructure which requires today a radical rehabilitation. It's
not only in Switzerland that it's sounding the alarm. The phenomenon has become
serious in France and is taken very seriously in Germany. In Belgium, the CEO
of SNCB is doing the exact opposite and does not want that the state gives
billions to the network manager (Infrabel). He judges that the network manager
must to make, alone, the savings imposed by Belgian government.
