Economic Consequences of Positive Train Control - In David Lehlbach’s posting of April 28th, Oliver Wyman Assessment of PTC Commercial Benefits, he reviewed the results of a Positive Train Control (PTC) study that Oliver Wyman had prepared for the Association of American Railroads (AAR).  Subsequent to the release of the AAR study, two of Oliver Wyman’s Partners, Bill Rennicke and Carl Van Dyke, had an opportunity to make a presentation entitled “Economic Consequences of Positive Train Control” during the Stifel Nicolaus freight transportation/logistics conference call of May 28, 2010.  Both Bill and Carl are well-known experts in the field of freight railroading and were members of the team that developed the PTC study for the AAR.   Thanks to Stifel Nicolaus, we are pleased to be able to post the complete transcript  of the May 28th conference call, which captures the full verbal presentation as well as many of the Power Point slides that were referenced by Bill and Carl.

Lean Rolling Stock Maintenance - Rail rolling stock maintenance is one of the most important contributors to the overall lifecycle cost of your fleet. Given the current economic environment, railway operators and service providers alike are looking for ways to improve their operational efficiency, in particular rolling stock maintenance.  Oliver Wyman has an in-depth and international experience in optimizing rolling stock maintenance operations as well as developing and implementing profitable growth strategies in the rolling stock service market. Additionally, we regularly publish studies on railway and rolling stock industry related topics – most recently on profitable growth opportunities in the rolling stock service market.

Passenger Rail Infrastructure Dilemma - Recently, Oliver Wyman examined the various initiatives being considered to establish new high-speed passenger rail corridors in North America.  While most stakeholders would like to build “all new” infrastructure to operate high-speed passenger trains, there is simply not enough monetary or political support to make this a reality.  Thus the focus for expanding passenger service will likely be on using existing rail corridors owned and operated by private freight railroads.  This raises a number of key issues: What does a passenger operator need to know about the complexities of freight railroad operations?  How does a freight railroad transition to hosting passenger operations – and is it worth doing?   We are pleased to provide you with this copy of Oliver Wyman’s perspective on these critical questions.

Applying the European High-Speed Rail Experience to North America - Due to various political, economic and financial factors, it’s easy to see that high-speed passenger rail (HSR) service is coming to North America in the near future.  This capital intensive type of railroading has raised many concerns among the various stakeholders including: freight railroads, government agencies, passenger operators and land owners.  One core issue – what physical network will host the passenger services?  It is clear that passenger-only rail lines will not be built in the near future, leaving the trains to operate on the existing privately-owned freight network.  This presentation examines how network sharing and other potential problems have been handled in Europe. We also look at the way forward in North America and see how some private-public partnerships are already providing an excellent example of cooperation on mixed-use networks.

Oliver Wyman High Speed Rail Capabilities - In April of 2009, President Barack Obama announced his plan to “transform travel in America with an historic investment in high-speed rail.” At stake is $13 billion that the Obama administration is allocating to upgrade existing rail lines and build new lines.  Several states in response have announced plans to launch environmental or engineering studies, and engineering and rail operation companies and their advisors around the world are lining up to participate in the development of high-speed rail in North America.  In this presentation, we review the Oliver Wyman’s high-speed rail experience of and examine some applicable European case studies.

Press Release – Rolling Stock Service Market -  On November 11^th, Oliver Wyman distributed this press release to announce the availability of the study “Profitable Growth in the Rolling Stock Service Market” by Henning Thormählen and Joris D’Incà.  For this new study Oliver Wyman surveyed many top managers of railroad operators, vehicle makers, component suppliers as well as rental and leasing companies around the world in mid-2009. The experts described the market for rolling stock services for the years of 2008 through 2020 and they also analyzed growth drivers, changes in demand for services, identified attractive new service fields as well as the opportunities and risks facing fundamental market players. One of the key findings is that there are nearly six million railway vehicles, primarily locomotives and train cars and the rolling stock service market totaled about Euro 50 billion in 2008 globally. Through 2020, it will grow by an average of 2.8 percent a year and reach Euro 70 billion. In reaching this level, it will clearly surpass the market for new railway vehicles, which currently amounts to about Euro 37 billion around the world.

Stimulus Alert: Impact of “Visions for a New Era in Rail” Strategic Plan

OW Transport & Logistics

Improved Hazmat Visibility for Freight Railroads

The Mixed Train Concept: The Best of Both Worlds for European Rail Freight?

Monetizing Rail Assets to Unlock Value

Stopping the Downward Spiral in Terminal Performance