PKP Cargo’s lenders want to write its rescue deal themselves
The judge overseeing PKP Cargo’s restructuring has scrapped the timetable for a deal with its creditors. The reset followed requests from the court-appointed administrator and the European Investment Bank (EIB), which wants time for creditors to put forward an alternative arrangement and says three Polish banks back the request.
In an order issued on 12 October, the judge-commissioner in charge of the case cancelled two earlier orders, of 30 June and 4 September. They had set 15 October as the last day for other parties to table their own arrangement proposals and for the creditors’ council to give its opinion on the company’s plan.
Poland’s largest rail freight operator has been in restructuring since 2024. The plan now has no vote date, and it is no longer clear who will write the next one.
By 4 December, the judge has called on the creditors’ council and other interested creditors to say how they see the case proceeding and whether up-to-date arrangement proposals can be prepared. The order names one creditor in particular: the EIB.
The EIB says it agreed its request with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), PKO BP and Bank Pekao. The state was already on two sides of the case. PKP S.A., the state rail holding, owns 33.01% of PKP Cargo, and the company is suing the State Treasury for PLN 1.52bn, about EUR 350m.
Until September, the plan for PKP Cargo was the company’s. By 4 December, its lenders are due to say whether they want to write the next one.
Brenner Base Tunnel slips to 2034 as cost rises to EUR 11.7bn
CROSS-BORDER: The Brenner Base Tunnel between Austria and Italy is now due to open in 2034 and cost EUR 11.7bn, under a new schedule and budget approved by project company BBT SE. Until now it was due in 2032 at EUR 10.5bn, news agency dpa reported.
BBT SE approved the new plan on 20 October. The exploratory tunnel, dug to survey the rock ahead of the main bores, will be fitted out as a service tunnel, drawing on experience from the Gotthard.
The European Commission’s work plan for the Scandinavian–Mediterranean corridor, published on 30 September, put the tunnel in operation at the end of 2032. That was already two years past the 2030 deadline for the TEN-T core network. The new date adds two more.
BBT SE’s statement does not say how the increase of roughly EUR 1.2bn will be shared between Austria, Italy and the EU.
Siemens beats Alstom to 23 ERTMS passenger locomotives
ROMANIA: The Railway Reform Authority (ARF) has picked a Siemens Mobility consortium over Alstom and local manufacturer Softronic for 23 electric passenger locomotives with ERTMS. They are intended for routes the state awards to operators in competitive tenders.
The locomotives must reach 160 km/h and haul up to 16 passenger coaches, and the order includes maintenance and repair. ARF has not given the price of the winning bid or named the locomotive model.
ARF puts the total value of the project at RON 764.4m, roughly EUR 154m. The Modernisation Fund, an EU fund financed from emissions trading revenue, covers RON 638.9m, and the state budget RON 125.5m.
The contract can be signed once the period for challenging the result has expired and any complaints have been settled, according to ARF.
PKP Intercity faces tender for long-distance services from 2030
POLAND: The Ministry of Infrastructure will tender long-distance and international public service trains for December 2030 onwards, on contracts covering four timetable years. State-owned PKP Intercity, which runs the services under a direct award, will have to bid to keep them.
The contracts are due to be signed in September 2028. AllRail, the association of independent passenger operators, called the four-year term too short, Rynek Kolejowy reported.
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