SNCB should prepare to face competition, minister warns

The national rail authority, SNCB, should prepare itself for an opening up of the market in passenger transport, federal mobility minister Jacqueline Galant said this week as she presented her department’s policy intentions for the coming legislature.

Part of that preparation, she said, must involve paying off its debt burden through cutting costs. She also intends to restructure the authority’s internal organisation, with a view to being ready for the liberalisation of the passenger rail market at some future date.

The government is on the point of beginning negotiations on the new management agreement with SNCB and the rail infrastructure company, Infrabel, which will last six years. At the same time, the multi-year investment plan for 2012-2025, worth €25 billion, will be reviewed in the light of a new transport plan that will be “integrated, customer-centred and demand-driven”.

While the passenger transport market will be opened up to competition, Galant suggested that freight transport ought to remain in Belgian hands. Rail freight is an essential element, she said, in maintaining the country’s position as a logistical hub for the continent.

“I will pay special attention in the multi-year investment plan to rail infrastructure projects for goods transport and the accessibility of economic gateways,” she said. The government would consider “all strategic avenues” for the rail freight division, NMBS Logistics, “which would lead to a stronger position for the Belgian economy”.

photo courtesy SNCB