Rail

Rail in general and commuter rail in particular, are two of Veolia Transport's key sectors, with flagship operations in Australia, Sweden, Germany and the USA. But Veolia Transport's rail activities are wider than this and include regional and long distance train services together with rail freight activities.

Commuter rail

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 Commuter rail system in Boston

Our commuter rail activities provide services from key residential areas to major cities, encouraging the use of public transit in often congested urban areas.

In North America we are bringing our international experience to rail systems in Boston, the United States' largest contracted-out commuter rail system. We also operate the Metrolink commuter rail system serving the Los Angeles region.

In Melbourne, Veolia Transport Australia operates the entire commuter rail system. The expertise acquired by our Australian teams was also responsible for the company's first foothold in Auckland, New Zealand, where Veolia Transport also operates the commuter rail system.

In all these cases Veolia Transport has taken over operations from the previous public rail company. This highlights one of our key strengths - the integration of staff from one organization to another.

Apart from the numerous technical and administrative tasks involved, this requires a specific management style and the coordination of all functions within the organization. Our management teams benefit from the expertise Veolia Transport has developed in integration and transition from the previous organization and adapting working practices and methods.

The key objective of this process is of course that it is seamless for riders and for our client the transit authority.

Regional rail

Transportation services | Regional Rail

Our regional rail lines provide a transportation backbone that ensures that smaller towns are linked to each other and to the major transit hubs of the region they serve.

In Germany, regionalization offers the various regions, or "Länder", the chance to entrust their regional rail operations to the contractor of their choice. As a result regional rail has proved to be a path to success for Veolia Transport, which has become Germany's largest private operator of public transportation.

The German regions have opened up operation of regional lines to private companies to increase competition. The result has been reduced costs, improved services, a new dynamism of innovation and a significant increase in ridership. In many cases old lines have been reopened or service frequency greatly increased.

In addition, new rolling stock has been introduced as a clear sign of the investment of the public and private sectors.

A particular effort has been placed on associating the regional rail services with the communities they serve. Rather than being just another line of a national train system, regional lines have their own identity. Veolia Transport has been particularly active in developing regional partnership programs with local administrations, associations and commercial partners.

New on-board services have also been provided as part of this "renaissance", such as internet access, family seating areas and food and beverage machines. Links with other transit modes have also been a key development; taxis can be ordered by the on-board staff for an onward connection, bicycles are carried and encouraged and schedules are coordinated to connect with local bus services.

The new rolling stock has also been important in improving the accessibility of the services.

Veolia Transport operates ten regional rail networks in Germany including the NordWestBahn, NordOstseeBahn and the Lausitzbahn. Recent additions are the two regional rail lines Marschbahn and the Nordharzbahn.

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Long distance rail

Veolia Transport has not only been a major player in developing regional rail in partnership with regional administrations. We have also launched two long-distance lines linking important medium-sized cities in the east of Germany from north to south. These locations had been partly cut off from the main national rail system which has developed along high speed lines serving only the denser areas of population.

These lines are operated without public subsidy and compete directly with national rail services.

In Sweden we operate daily train operations from Gothenburg and Stockholm to upper Norrland in the north of Sweden and Narvik in Norway. This service covers a total of over 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) with a total journey time of 20 hours. The train passes through some of the toughest (-40 degrees) and most beautiful landscapes in the world.

Operating trains in such conditions further broadens our experience and expertise.

Since 1 January 2004, Veolia Transport has been a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC) for its passenger rail transportation services and for freight.

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Sprinter, our first regional rail contract in the United States

In the United States, where Veolia Transportation was already operating commuter lines in Boston and Los Angeles (Metrolink), the subsidiary broadened its activity to operating a regional rail system in California. The Sprinter project involves transforming a 35 kilometer freight line into a system of regional passenger trains connecting Oceanside to Escondido in approximately 30 minutes. Fifteen stations will be served. Service is scheduled to begin at the end of 2007, with 3.5 million passengers expected in 2008. The work, which includes construction of all the stations, track rehabilitation and the creation of a loop to serve California State University, San Marcos, will be carried out with no disruption to freight services.

The project is benefiting from the close cooperation between our American and German teams. The latter contributed their wealth of experience to the tendering process, the operation and maintenance of the Siemens diesel multiple units and to setting up the training program. This has proven to be a major advantage.