 MISSION |
- The establishment and operation of a state-wide railway network
- Activities related to the operation of a state-wide railway network - Infrastructure
- The Construction and maintenance of railway lines
EU Corridors, Tatra railways, Railway lines
General Information:
Legal Status: Sui Generis Share Holder: State company
Execution of Shareholders Rights: Slovak Ministry of Transport, Posts & Telecommunication
| A BRIEF HISTORY |
The railways of the Slovak Republic [ Zeleznice Slovenskej (ZSR) ] were established on the 1st January 1993 by the Government of the Slovak Republic, their objective was to found a state company the "Railways of Slovak Republic" (ZSR). The company was legally registered at a later date by law of the National Council of the Slovak Republic ( Parliament ) on the 30th September 1993. The creation of ZSR happened as a consequence of the break-up of the Czecho-Slovak federation by splitting the Czecho-Slovak sate railroads into two railways.
| GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE |
The constitution of the railways in Slovakia, which has an area of 49 036 km2, began in the Austria-Hungararian monarchy. The first railway in Hungary, from Bratislava to Sered (current Slovakia) was built in 1839-1846 as a horse railroad. The first steam engine arrived on the soil of Slovakia on the 2oth August 1884, from Vienna to Bratislava.
ZSR has 3665 kilometres of railroads, 2484 of which are one track and 1023 are two tracks. 52 km are narrow tracks and 106 are wider then the standard tracks and they have 10149 points. In the Slovak rail network the are 1472 km of electrified railway lines, 735 km of which are fitted with one directional rail track systems (3kV) and 707 km with variable track systems (25 kV/50 Hz.)
| ENVIRONMENT & TRANSPORTATION |
Slovak rail lines wind their way through river basins, pass mountain valleys and in some places lead directly under the enormous mountain peaks. The highest positioned railway station "Strbske Pleso" in the High Tatras it is positioned at 1320 meters above sea level. The lowest railway station Steda nad Bodrogom in eastern Slovakia is at situated 101 meters above sea level.
The characteristics of the Slovak countryside are mountainous and rugged terrain, which is very demanding regarding the construction of railway lines. The difficulty of our railroads is illustrated for example by the fact that 252 km of main rail tracks are bent, with a radius of less then 300 meters and 814 km of main tracks are inclined by more than 1.0 percent. There are 2361 bridges which are each longer than 47 km and 76 tunnels which expand more then 43 km.
In eastern Slovakia on the border with Ukraine, there were built large and technologically well equipped loading docks at the junction of normal and wide tracks in Cierna nad Tisou Dobra and Mat`ovce. For the extra heavy volume cargo trains coming from the Ukraine to Kosice en eastern Slovakia, there is in service a wide track railway with the width of 1524km.
The capital of Slovakia Republic, Bratislava is at the cross point of all sorts of transportation, railways, the Danube River, the highways and airlines. The importance of the rail network of ZSR increased after the completion of the Rein-Main-Danube channel and the "Gabeickovo" Water Dam situated on the on Danube below Bratislava. Thus Slovakia was placed in the middle of waterways between the Baltic sea and the Black sea. Presently a second direct railway connection between Bratislava and Vienna is being completed.
| TRANSFORMATION OF ZSR |
On 1st January 2002 ZSR divided into two joint stock companies, (1) ZSR, a.s, and (2) ŽELEZNICNÁ SPOLOCNOST, a. s. ( ZS- Rail Company ) which is 100% owned by the state. The ZSR will remain the main operator of cargo and passenger transport, Zeleznicna Spolocnost will provide maintenance, infrastructure and construction of railway services for the ZSR a.s.
| ECONOMICS OF ZSR |
ZSR reported a gross profit of SKK 1.019bn. in the first half of 2001, economic results surpassed the planned profit by 1.4bn. Total sale revenues from transport represented SKK 8.5bn., up SKK 1.5bn., or 21.86 percent, y/y. The company met its plan at 97.76% as far as the revenues are concerned. Cargo transport bought SKK 7.5bn. in revenues whereas passenger transportation brought SKK 1,6bn., which is 11.43% more y/y. The railway company ( ZSR ) transported 26.2 million tonnes of goods, up 633,400 tonnes y/y and 631,4000 tonnes more than planned.
| AUTHORITIES & ADMINISTRATION |
The Director General and the Board of Director are
the controlling authority for the railways of Slovakia.
The Board of Directors is the highest authority
of the railways, has nine members. Six of the board
members are experts, mainly within the fields of
transportation, finance, banking, national economy
and law, they are the elected representatives of
the railways employees. The Minister of Transportation,
The Post Office and Telecommunications names members
of the board. Three of them are appointed and dismissed
on the basis of the suggestions, decided from elections
made by the employees. The board of directors of
ZSR runs the office of the board of directors. |
The head of the railways is the Director General, who governs the railways and is directly responsible to the board of directors. The director general and his deputy have rights and responsibilities to act on behalf of the railway and are named and dismissed by the minister of transportation, post office and telecommunications on the request of the board directors. The Director General is the statuary head of the railways. He represents them publicly and acts on their behalves in all matters as long as they are not in exclusive privilege of the board of directors and the administrative department, when necessary his deputy will act on his behalf. The director general is bringing forth internal regulations, he also acts as the head of the railways in labour issues and all legal matters and in relations with railway unions.
The executive authority of the Director General is the General of administration of the railways of Slovak Republic. General administration from the position of the concept "centre" directs all activities, which secure development and strategic goals of the corporation as one unit, and is creating space for the functioning of its divisions. The general administration has 24 branches.
| INTERNAL DIVISIONS |
The divisions are internal organisational units which are responsible for the day to day operations and maintenance of the railroads, handling and maintenance of mobile equipment and business ventures and enterprise in personal and freight transportation. The railways of the Slovak Republic have four divisions: Division of Personal Transportation, Division of Freight Hauling, Division of Railway Track Vehicles and Division for the Railway Tracks. Each of them operates all over the country.
Other up-to-date information about ZSR is accessible now on our Internet site: www.zsr.sk
| INVESTMENT |
The Slovak railways need investments totalling Sk97.31bn for the period until the year 2010, of which Sk34.39bn is for modernisation until 206 alone, according to a development program for the railway lines produced by the Slovak Government at the beginning of November 2001. Most of this money is for building international railway corridors to the Czech Republic, Bratislava-Poland and Zilina-Kosice, the Transport Minister Jozef Macejko told the press, The programme for modernising Slovak railways is closely tied to a plan for the transformation of the railway company ZSR. Finances for these investments are expected to come from the state budget, a state-guaranteed loan and commercial loans according to the ministry's plan. The railway could also get a SK1-2bn contribution from the ISPA fund for specific projects
| NEW TECHNOLOGY |
On 5th November 2001 Slovakia`s railway company Zeleznice Slovenskej Republiky (ZSR) signed a framework contract with Alcatel for modernising their tele-information network. Alcatel will modernise the fibre optic cable network, terminals and data and voice transfer services for ZSR. The project is expected to be completed in 2004 and has an estimated cost of SKK 2.6 billion.
| PRODUCTIVITY & WORKFORCE REDUCTION |
ZSR labour productivity, calculated from revenues, climbed by 10.6 % over the first six months of the year 2001. At the end of August 2001 ZSR had 44,258 employees on its payroll, making it the largest employer in Slovakia. Compared to August 2000, the labour force was cut by 2313 people and this years business plan predicts a workforce reduction of 4135 workers at a saving of SKK 2.4 billion from its total expenditures.
 Additional Information |
ŽELEZNICNÁ SPOLOCNOST, a. s. ( ZS- Rail Company )
Contacts:
Žabotova 12,
811 04 Bratislava
Slovak Republic
Nature of Business:
- Transportation of passengers and goods on state-wide railway network,
- Passenger and freight transport
- Combined transport
General Information
Legal Status: joint stock company
Company Location: Žabotova 12, 811 04 Bratislava
Date of Establishment: 1 January 2002
Share Holder: 100 % owned by the state
Execution of Shareholders Rights: Slovak Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunication |
