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ÖBB recorded an 80 to 90 percent drop in passenger traffic. Cargo traffic was also reduced by a third. Railroads need more money from the federal and state governments.
Vienna “Please also write about the 2019 balance,” ÖBB Chief Financial Officer Arnold Schiefer said after a video conference on Friday. Looking back is full of nostalgia. Positive earnings (EBT) of 168.5 million euros, equity increased to 2.6 billion, the peak of 477 million rail and bus customers, 3,700 new employees were hired, including 564 apprentices. All waste.
Today, ÖBB passenger trains only have four to six passengers instead of 250 to 300, reports ÖBB chief Andreas Matthä. In long-distance traffic, the number of passengers decreased by 90 percent. Here, in reality, there are only connections with Germany and Hungary. Local and regional transportation has been reduced by 80 percent in recent weeks. That is why 20% fewer ÖBB trains run every day.
For this reason, between 7,000 and 8,000 of ÖBB’s 35,000 employees take a short-term job. Locomotive drivers, train attendants, bus drivers, engines and administrative staff are particularly affected. Not only employees in the union are affected, but also employees who cannot be fired, Schiefer stressed. In addition, the previous year’s vacation and time credits are also reduced. “We try to save everywhere,” said Matthä.
With the 2020 budget, Matthä is like the finance minister. “We can throw that away.”
What is certain is that in the coming days and weeks there will be intense discussions with the federal government, the federal states and the transport associations. Service contracts need to be discussed again, emphasizes ÖBB’s management. “We are renegotiating framework contracts with our clients, so we provide a service,” said Schiefer. In other words, the federal states should compensate ÖBB for the loss of ticket sales if they want to continue to ensure that Deutsche Bahn also maintains the operation of trains and Postbus in the regions.
“We have to make adjustments here, but we don’t see this under the heading of state aid,” Schiefer emphasized and resisted any comparison with the AUA, which is negotiating a financial injection of hundreds of millions. “We are driving, the AUA is on the ground and is not flying.”
Inadmissible comparison with AUA
The course is established for state aid in the transport of goods. The cargo division Rail Cargo struggled to achieve a positive result last year. Now it registers failures between 25 and 30 percent. The automotive supply industry, which has traditionally been one of ÖBB’s largest customers, leaves everything out. Since then, freight transportation has decreased by 80 percent. Orders from the steel industry, especially from Voest, fell 50 percent. This massive loss cannot be offset by the short-term increase in the transport of pasta, tomato paste, toilet paper, or ethanol. All those products that are currently in high demand in supermarkets and pharmacies. The ÖBB even transported ten percent more goods here than in normal times.
Matthä and Schiefer do not currently answer the specific question of whether ÖBB will apply for State aid in this regard. What is certain is that the drop in sales in freight transportation is below the 40 percent required to obtain money from the Federal Finance Agency Covid-19 (Cofag). On the other hand, other state railways in Europe are also likely to apply for state aid.
The main thing is to further strengthen rail freight transport. “It cannot be that the truck will emerge victorious after the crisis,” Matthä said. A phrase that is probably already addressed to the Green Minister for the Environment and Transport, Leonore Gewessler.
Overall, ÖBB’s board expects a government stimulus package in the fall. Infrastructure projects would not only boost the railways, but also the construction industry and suppliers.
(“Die Presse”, print edition, April 18, 2020)
