SPAIN: Renfe has signed a financing agreement with state-owned bank ICO which is to provide €350m towards the €3.12bn cost of what the operator says are its largest-ever orders for suburban rolling stock, comprising 201 high-capacity EMUs from Alstom and 79 from Stadler which are due to be delivered from 2024. ICO has received €350m from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance this transaction, with the remaining funding to be provided from Renfe’s own resources or other lines of credit if required.
France: In third quarter results for the period from October 1 to December 31, Alstom reported €5.15bn in orders, with Services, Signalling and Systems accounting for 58% of the total. Orders worth €15.22bn were reported in the first nine months of the year, a 6% increase year-on-year. Sales also increased by 8% year-on-year between April and December to €12.27bn. Alstom’s order backlog as of December 31 was €84.6bn, which is expected to secure sales of €36-38bn over the next three years and achieve Alstom’s target of a compound annual growth rate in sales of 5% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
United States: Wagon leasing company GATX has reported net income of $US 155.9m for 2022, up from $US 143.1m the year before. Profit from the Rail North America segment exceeded expectations and was up at $US 321.3m from $US 285.4m in 2021. Utilisation of the GATX fleet of 109,600 wagons was 99.5% as of December 31 2022. Rail International profit was down at $US 85.9m from $US 105m, reflecting impairment charges of $US 14.6m as GATX exited the Russian market. Utilisation of the 28,000 wagons in the Rail International fleet stood at 99.3% at the end of 2022.
Belgium: The Federal Transport Ministry reports that rail projects received €120m of funding from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in 2022. As well as ETCS installation, infrastructure manager Infrabel is replacing level crossings with new bridges and tunnels, and working to digitise capacity management as part of the RailNetEurope consortium. Four new tracks for 740m freight trains are being installed at Montzen yard near the German border. CEF is also funding installation of ETCS equipment on over 200 Belgian National Railways (SNCB) trains.
France: Channel Tunnel operator Getlink has reported consolidated group revenue of €1.6bn for 2022, up 107% on 2021 and an all-time record. Eurotunnel revenue was up 63% at €1.05bn, driven by a 122% year-on-year increase in passenger shuttle traffic and a 407% increase in the number of Eurostar passengers travelling through the Channel Tunnel. Railway network revenue from operators other than Eurotunnel was up 90% on 2021 at €295m, despite the number of freight trains moving between Britain and France falling by 10% to reach 1488 in 2022.
Spain: The Valencia region has signed a €50m finance contract with the European Investment Bank (EIB), covering the first tranche of €300m in approved financing that will enable Valencian Government Railways (FGV) to upgrade and expand infrastructure, purchase new rolling stock and refurbish its current fleet. This will include track doubling and electrification on the Alicante network, installation of CCTV and communications systems in the Metrovalencia fleet, accessibility improvements and the replacement of incandescent lighting with LEDs.
Germany: Siemens Mobility has reported revenue of €2.45bn for Quarter 1 of its 2023 financial year, up from €2.41bn the year before and led by double-digit growth in the rail infrastructure business. Profit was down at €195m from €224m, “again held back by supplier delays in delivering materials and components, and by a less favourable business mix.” Major contract wins included a €900m turnkey metro system in Australia and locomotive orders totalling €300m in Europe, but orders were down at €2.97bn from €5.39bn in Q1 2022, the highest quarterly order intake ever recorded by Siemens Mobility.
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