THE board of NTV, Italy's first high-speed rail open-access operator, has unanimously denounced the behaviour of infrastructure manager Italian Rail Network (RFI), which it claims has unilaterally changed an agreement between NTV and RFI reached in January 2008 on which NTV's whole business plan is based. NTV sees this action as yet another attempt by RFI, which together with Trenitalia are subsidiaries of Italian Railways (FS), to prevent NTV from launching its high-speed services later this year.
THE board of NTV, Italy's first high-speed rail open-access operator, has unanimously denounced the behaviour of infrastructure manager Italian Rail Network (RFI), which it claims has unilaterally changed an agreement between NTV and RFI reached in January 2008 on which NTV's whole business plan is based. NTV sees this action as yet another attempt by RFI, which together with Trenitalia are subsidiaries of Italian Railways (FS), to prevent NTV from launching its high-speed services later this year.
NTV says that RFI has published a new PIR - the document which regulates the relationship between RFI and train operators - which substantially changes the rules governing access to the rail network. NTV says the new PIR ignores the stipulations of the Rail Regulator (URSF) and only allows train operators seven days to make a response. The new PIR was published just a few days after a request for paths for the 2012 timetable.
NTV calls for the immediate establishment of a truly independent third party to supervise railway liberalisation in Italy. The company says this latest attempt jeopardises the €1 billion of private investment in NTV and the jobs of the 300 people already employed by the company.
Other open-access operators have also complained of discrimination by FS and its subsidiaries to prevent them competing fairly with Trenitalia.