There is an on-going discussion in Turkey about rental of locos and freight wagons by TCDD Tasimacilik for other private operators.
The rental of locos and wagons from TCDD Tasimacilik has become a very serious alternative for private operators, since loco investments are huge and takes long time. Almost all loco manufacturers in the world have long order lists and cannot promise short delivery dates.
However, this issue caused discussions in the market.
One discussion is related with the limited capacity. TCDD Tasimacilik is getting prepared for competition with private companies, thus trying to find more loads. With the additional millions of tons of freight to be carried on Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, it might be very hard for TCDD Tasimacilik to rent more locos for private operators.
On the other hand, stopping renting will create a big difference between already kicked off operators and new ones. New operators will be able to start long after the current ones. Current ones will have got ahead in competition.
On the other hand, TCDD Tasimacilik cares about competition between private operators. Locos are rented for specific route and specific client. Thus, private operators, cannot attack loads of others with the rented locos.
Another discussion is claiming that TCDD Tasimacilik has eased the life of its competitiors. Union of transport workers had made a statement about this. It’s for sure renting has speeded up the enterance of private operators. If renting were not an option, we would have to wait for first private train a couple of years.
But the terms are not so easy. Additional maintanance costs, additional fee per ton, limitation for route and client are not the terms international rolling stock rental companies request. Considering also the performance, the total cost of renting the loco becomes comparable with renting fees of brand-new locos.
Renting had already a positive affect in capacity usage. Both TCDD Tasimacilik and the private operators are forced to run with limited rolling stock, thus trying to use locos with maximum capacity.
The companies will be able to see how things will work with private trains before they invest in million dollars of locos from abroad. This may be a benefit for them and our country preventing wrong investments.
Finally, it’s possible for TCDD Tasimacilik to benefit from renting. The total profit from rental fee, share from transports and maintanance services may be over the profit when it carries the load.
Cover Photo: Jeff Hawken ©
Categories: Railway Companies
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