CFR Calatori sees business shrink in 2003

Railway passenger carrier CFR Calatori SA posted approximately 10,000bn ROL (about $302 million) turnover in 2002 and registered losses, general manager Valentin Bota told Ziarul Financiar. He added the exact amount of losses was yet unknown, due the fact that the company had shifted to the International Accounting Standards (IAS).
Although CFR Calatori SA concluded two contracts with Siemens (Germany) and General Motors (US), which are among the most important in the Romanian railroad cars and engine industry after 1989 in terms of value, the management estimates the turnover will go down in real terms. The company expects to make some 10,000bn ROL (some $285 million if calculated at an average exchange rate of 35,000 ROL/USD)turnover in 2003.
The impact of these contracts will rather be a cost-related one, as the contracts will help cutting costs. The state-run railroad passenger carrier is facing serious competition from the private carriers, which charge lower tariffs than CFR, given that CFR Calatori’s vehicle stock is quite old.
More than 900 county and inter-county routes were serviced by some 407 private passenger carriers last year. The operators were using approximately 7,000 microbuses, statistical data provided by the Romanian Road Authority show.
There are also about 1,500-2,000 microbuses illegally operating in this field, owners of passenger carriers say. A microbus operating such a route collects some 3 to 6 million ROL a day. The tariffs charged by the private operators are worth more than a passenger train ticket but less than a fast train ticket. They offer better conditions, though, because most of the microbuses are foreign-made.
The introduction of the Siemens trains has not led to a drop in the number of passengers constantly travelling by microbus, the private operators say. “The Romanian market is a highly price-sensitive one. If considering the Bucharest-Craiova route, a one-way microbus ticket costs 150,000 ROL, while a one-way ticket for the Blue Arrow (i.e. the nickname of the Siemens trains in Romania) costs nearly twice more,” Comusi Ion, owner of a passenger carrier company said.