Haselsteiner holds 48% of the shares, Grossnigg 32% and 20% will be held by the management. This consists of Mr Reinhard Bamberger, a former board member of Rail Cargo Austria, and consultant Dipl-Ing Jan Klima, a former McKinsey employee and head of SophiSystems.
The company is being registered and will apply for an operating license and safety certificates in 2020.
Frachtbahn Traktion will focus on providing locomotives and train drivers to industrial clients who own freight wagons and are looking for traction. The company will be based in Vienna, and will operate block trains in and around Austria focussing on the Danube corridor and Alpine crossings.
Service contract
The company will have a service contract with Westbahn to provide some train drivers and share IT resources. Locomotives will be hired from leasing companies but may also be purchased at a later stage.
Frachtbahn wants to provide a high-quality reliable service by using modern IT solutions and says it will focus on service quality and will not engage in price dumping.
Frachtbahn expects to haul its first trains by the end of 2020 with full operation by the beginning of 2021.
