CZECH REPUBLIC: Open access operator RegioJet launched services between Praha and Havírov on September 26, breaking Czech Railways' monopoly on long-distance passenger services by competing directly with CD's premium Pendolino service.

RegioJet is initially running three trains each way per day, calling at nine intermediate stations including Ostrava-Hlavní, Olomouc and Pardubice. It expects to increase this to nine trains each way from the December timetable change when it expects to extend services to Zilina in Slovakia. From December 2012 the trains will run through to Kosice.

...To counter RegioJet, CD is considering adjustment of its ticket prices, but RegioJet guarantees never to be more expensive. CD has enhanced selected Praha - Ostrava trains, with first class passengers offered newspapers and cold or hot drinks. On September 1 CD launched CD Taxi, which allows passengers to reserve taxis in Praha, Brno and Ostrava at guaranteed prices when showing a CD ticket.

Like most long-distance open access pioneers in the EU so far, RegioJet struggled for months to get its service going. They managed to do it with second-hand vehicles all already approved for the Czech Republic (as detailed in the article, the locos returned from Italy and the coaches are formerly Austrian).

Again as most other long-distance open access attempts, the new competitor targets the busiest corridor, which will eliminate profits there which now support services with a wider network...

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

EUROPE: The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against France and the UK over their 'failure to implement legislation to open the market for rail services in the Channel Fixed Link'. On September 29 the Commission said the countries have two months to respond before it requests full implementation of the first railway package.

The Commission is concerned about the lack of independence of the Channel Tunnel rail infrastructure manager, and insufficient implementation of provisions in the first railway package regarding access charges, independent regulation and capacity allocation.

...FTA cited charges of £60/km for the Channel Tunnel, compared with £4 for High Speed 1 and £2 for Network Rail. 'Eurotunnel's pricing strategy for rail freight is fundamentally flawed, and this is why it is not fulfilling anywhere near its true potential', said Welsh. 'Whereas in Britain freight trains generally pay marginal track access charges based on incremental cost-damage to the infrastructure, Eurotunnel pricing policy appears to be based on total cost recovery for the project. As such, prices are uncompetitive with other modes.'

INTERNATIONAL: DB Schenker Rail Automotive is to launch a daily container train service between Germany and China in late November, carrying BMW automotive components from Leipzig to Shenyang.

'With a transit time of 23 days, the direct trains are more than twice as fast as maritime transport followed by transport to the Chinese hinterland', said DB Mobility Logistics board member Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch...

DB is already carrying car components on the route on an interim basis, with a fourth train carrying 40 containers leaving the Leipzig-Wahren terminal on September 29.

Ambitions for Transasian rail transport were first covered in the diary Another Great Game, then as things heated up, a number of updates in Salon comments in of 2010 and in 2011.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Two commuter trains collided in a tunnel outside Caracas, Venezuela, killing one person, injuring about 30 and leaving frightened passengers gasping for air in the dark.

One train suddenly braked due to an apparent malfunction and another crashed into it from the rear, causing the first to derail, transportation minister Francisco Garces said on state television.

Officials said a packed train coming in the opposite direction was able to stop before colliding with the others, averting a possible disaster.

...Mr Lira said the engineer of the rear train died.