German railways
德国铁路
Mixed signals
复合信号
Jul 10th 2008 | BERLIN
From The Economist print edition
Deutsche Bahn is under attack from all sides. Privatisation will not help much
德国联邦铁路四面楚歌，私有化将帮助不大
NAPOLEON would have made a great railway boss, claimed Hartmut Mehdorn, the chief executive of Deutsche Bahn (DB), in a recent interview. “The fact that he was short and fat like me is incidental ,” he added. Mr Mehdorn has been notching up victories in his own quest for global domination-getting the go-ahead for a part-privatisation for instance-but there are continuous battles at local level.
拿破仑本可能成为伟大的铁路老板，在最近的采访中DB的首席执行官Hartmut Mehdorn曾宣称。”巧合的是我和他一样矮胖”他补充道。Hartmut Mehdorn在他自己追求的占领全球方面已经达到了些许胜利–例如获得部分私有化的放行信号，但仍存在持续的局部战役要攻坚。
VRR, a body responsible for local railway services in North-Rhine Westphalia last month tore up a contract with DB Regio, a DB subsidiary, complaining that it ran dirty trains, failed to provide agreed security guards and charged too much, thanks to a sweetheart deal arranged by politicians that is tantamount to a state subsidy. DB is still running the trains, pending mediation: tendering for a new operator is a long process. Next week a court in Lower Saxony will deliberate on the cancellation of another DB Regio contract, to run trains around Bremen .
上个月，一家位于北莱茵河威斯特伐利亚的地方铁路服务机构VRR撕碎了与DB的子公司DB Regio的合同。VRR抱怨DB Regio运营着肮脏的火车，没有提供其承诺的安保，而且收费太高，由于一项由政客安排的私下签订的密约，DB Regio收取的费用等价于国家的特拨款。DB仍运营铁路，调解悬而未决：招标一个新运营商是个漫长的过程。下周位于下萨克森的一个法庭将商讨取消另一个合同，是关于DB Regio想要在不来梅附近运营铁路。
The European Commission has its own suspicions about a contract in Berlin and Brandenburg, and opened formal investigations last October. There is a slight risk, played up by DB’s competitors, that a string of other local contracts which were negotiated, rather than publicly tendered, could be called into question too.
关于柏林和勃兰登堡的合同欧洲委员会有自己的疑虑，并于去年10月展开正式调查。对DB来说存在轻微风险，DB的竞争者渲染道，一连串的其他地方合同都是协商签订的而不是公开正式提出的，这可能也是令人质疑的。
These are the hazards of being a state-owned incumbent that not only runs the mainline network, but also competes with hundreds of firms to provide local train services-which is by far the most profitable part of DB’s business, if a shrinking one. Veolia, a private train-operator, pulled out of bidding for a contract in Stuttgart in February, complaining that DB, which was also in the running, would not provide the information needed to prepare its bid.
这些是作为一个国有职责部门的风险，不仅要运营主干路网，还要与数以百计提供地方铁路服务的公司来竞争。提供地方铁路服务是目前DB生意里利润最高部份，即使是正在缩水的部份。2月一家私营铁路运营商Veolia撤出对斯图加特的合同的投标，它抱怨也在竞标中的DB不愿提供Veolia准备竞标所需的必要信息。
Two railway watchdogs, the Eisenbahnbundesamt (EBA) and the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), try to keep DB on the rails, by checking how it manages such conflicts of interest as it allocates routes, sets timetables and schedules repairs. How much does DB Netz, its network subsidiary, favour DB’s freight, local and long-distance subsidiaries? But the BNetzA, which started overseeing railways only in 2006, is understaffed and dogged by political interference, says Michael Holzhey of KCW, a consultancy.
两个铁路监管部门EBA（Eisenbahnbundesamt）和BNetzA（Bundesnetzagentur ）试图使DB安分守己，通过检查DB如何分配路线，设立列车时刻表和日常养护来处理这些利益冲突；检查DB的路网子公司DB Netz在多大程度上优待DB的运费，本地的运费和长途附加费来实现。但是BNetzA,从2006年才开始监管铁路，人手不足而且受制于政府干预，KCW咨询顾问公司的Michael Holzhey说。
A fight also looms with the European Commission over the separation of DB’s network and train services: the commission wants the computer systems to be separate too. Last month the Commission wrote to 24 of the European Union’s 27 member states, spelling out how each is infringing European railway directives and threatening proceedings . “The German list was much shorter than the ones for France or Italy,” sniffs a DB spokesman.
对欧洲委员会来说，一场关于DB网运分离的战斗迫在眉睫：委员会想要计算机系统也被剥离。上个月，欧洲委员会致函27个成员国中的24个，清楚地说明各个国家如何违反欧洲铁路的译码控制指令，从而威胁到程序。”给德国列出的条目要大大少于法国和意大利的”，一个DB的发言人轻蔑地说。
On balance that is right: Germany comes out well on railway liberalization when compared with other European countries. Despite criticism of DB’s dominance, local German rail services are operated by 350 different companies. DB actually has a bigger share of freight traffic in Britain-through its subsidiary EWS-than it does in Germany. And the cost to the state is far lower than for France or Britain.
总而言之这是对的：与欧洲其他国家相比，德国在铁路运输自由化方面做得很好。尽管DB的优势受到批评，但是德国的地方铁路由350家不同的公司运营。在英国，DB的子公司EWS实际上拥有比其母公司在德国本土更大的货运市场份额。并且成本对德国来说远低于对法国或者英国.
Will part-privatization of DB, planned for November, make much difference? Only 24.9% of an operating subsidiary, DB Mobility & Logistics (DB ML), is being sold to investors, with proceeds estimated at euro4.5 billion-6 billion. A third of that is expected to go to DB ML, a third to the state budget, and another third to improving infrastructure. But DB managers see it as a vital step away from political interference, even if the proceeds are puny. It will also enable DB ML to invest in foreign expansion-it is the fifth-biggest logistics operator worldwide, but with less than half the turnover of Deutsche Post and its subsidiaries DHL and Exel. SNCF, the French railway, has similar ambitions in logistics.
计划在11月实现的DB部分私有化将造成多大改变？DB的运营子公司DB Mobility & Logistics (DB ML)，仅有24.9%的股份出售给投资者，估计有45亿到60亿欧元的收益。其中1/3由DB ML获得，1/3进入国家预算，其余1/3用来改善基础设施。但是DB的管理者认为这是摆脱政府干预的关键一步，即使收益微不足道，这也将使DB ML能够在外国投资扩张。作为全球第5大物流运营商的DB，却只有德国邮政（Deutsche Post）及其子公司DHL和Exel不到一半的营业额。法国的铁路公司SNCF在物流业也有相似的雄心。
DB AG will remain 100% state-owned, as will its subsidiary DB Netz. In theory, the presence of private shareholders in DB ML should reduce its ability to win special treatment from DB Netz, though Mr Mehdorn will, bizarrely, continue to head both DB and DB ML. The privatisation represents a step towards the British model, in which private firms run trains on a state-owned network. This requires the regulator to maintain the balance between profit-seeking and provision of a public service. DB managers reckon that Britain’s regulator favours shareholders over passengers.
DB AG和其子公司DB Netz仍将100%国有。理论上，目前DB ML的私营股东将要削弱DB ML从DB Netz赢得特殊待遇的能力，尽管古怪的是，Mr Mehdorn将继续任DB和DB ML两家的主管。私有化呈现出向英国模式转变的一步，该模式下私有公司在国有的路网上运营火车。这需要监管者维持逐利和公共服务供应之间的平衡。DB的管理者们预计监管者更倾向股东而不是乘客。
It is not clear who, if anyone, will be interested in buying shares in DB ML. Given the poor performance of shares in other privatised firms, such as Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom, the German public may stay away . Mr Mehdorn seems likely to end up contending with institutional investors and hedge funds that want to shake things up. The last Napoleonic German boss in that situation, Werner Seifert at Deutsche Börse, ignored their demands and was forced out. Mr Mehdorn should be careful what he wishes for.
现在还不清楚谁，是否有人，将对购买DB ML的股票感兴趣。鉴于其他私有化公司股票的亏损表现，例如德国邮政和德国电信，德国公众或许会对DB ML的股票退避三舍。Mr Mehdorn似乎可能最终要对付那些想要把DB ML打散再重组的机构投资者和对冲基金。德国证券交易所（Deutsche Börse）的Werner Seifert–最后一个拿破仑式的德国老板无视他们的要求而被迫出局。Mr Mehdorn应当对他希望得到的小心为妙。
译者：蓝冰 http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12664&extra=page%3D1