Action 3.1: Mapping ongoing public and private investments 1 INFORMATION – DANUBE REGION (BRATISLAVA, NITRA, NOVÉ ZÁMKY, ŠURANY, GALANTA) 2 1.1 Bratislava 2 1.2 Nitra 2 1.3 Šurany 2 1.4 Galanta 3 1.5 Nové Zámky 3 2 DESCRIPTION OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES PROVIDED IN THE HUB AND LEGAL BACKGROUND 3 3 MAPPING OF ONGOING AND PLANNED INVESTMENTS 8 1 1 Information – Danube region (Bratislava, Nitra, Nové Zámky, Šurany, Galanta) 1.1 Bratislava Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 460,000, the countrys largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River and on the left bank of Morava river. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries. Bratislava is the political, cultural, and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak president, the parliament, and the Slovak executive. It is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other important cultural and educational institutions. Many of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there. As a rail hub, the city has direct connections to Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and the rest of Slovakia. Petržalka and Bratislava Hlavná stanica are the main stations. Other Stations and railway stops are Bratislava- Nové Mesto, Bratislava-Vinohrady, Bratislava-Poddunajské Biskupice, Bratislava-Železná Studienka, Bratislava-Lamač and Bratislava-Vajnory. All stations are mutually accessible by public transport. Main station is located at the northern edge of the Old Town, near Šancová street, some 15 minutes walking from the city center. Current rail traffic exceeds the station's track capacity, which occasionally becomes evident in a domino efect caused by delayed trains. One suggested solution is to transfer some of the trains to the Nové Mesto and Petržalka stations, which currently have unused track capacity. Since 2000, there are plans to reconstruct not only the Main Railway Station but also the surrounding area, most importantly Predstaničné námestie.[1] The investor is the company I.P.R. Slovakia and the cost was estimated at €232,357,432 in 2008. In 2003, the Bratislava City Magistrate agreed with the project. Project still didn´t start. 1.2 Nitra Nitra is one of the oldest town settlements in Slovakia. As early as the 9th century, it was a princely seat and bishopric of the Great Moravian Empire and later it welcomed the pretender to the throne of Hungary. Nitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. With a population of about 83,572, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Today, it is a seat of a Nitra Region and Nitra District. Nitra railway station forms part of the railway line between Nové Zámky, Šurany and Prievidz, which passes through Nitra, but is not a main line. There is a railway junction a short distance north of the town, connecting the city with Leopoldov, Topoľčany and Radošina. 1.3 Šurany Šurany is a town situated in the Nitra Region. Šurany is an industrial and agricultural town that lies on the right bank of the river Nitra. The town is an important railway node. The town had 10,400 inhabitants. There are direct rail lines that connect the town with Bratislava, Nové Zámky, Nitra, Levice and Zlaté Moravce. 2 There is also a vivid traffic between Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. Most of people from Slovakia travel to Hungary and Austria for shopping or they commute to work. In the opposite direction, there are many tourists travelling form Austria to Slovakia. 1.4 Galanta Galanta is a small town (about 16,000 inhabitants) in Slovakia. It is situated 50 km due east from the Slovak capital Bratislava. Galanta lies in the Danubian Lowland (Podunajská nížina), the warm southern part of Slovakia. There are many agricultural fields around Galanta, where wheat, corn, and other vegetables and fruits are grown. 1.5 Nové Zámky Nové Zámky is a Slovak town, centre of the District of Nové Zámky in the Nitra Region. The town of Nové Zámky is situated at the river Nitra, in the central part of the Danubian Lowland, which forms a part of the Littel Danubian Plain. The river Nitra flows through the city and river Žitava flows 6km east of the city. Nové Zámky are situated 100km from Bratislava and 120 km from Budapest. There is a direct train connection from Nové Zámky to Nitra, Komárno, Bratislava, Praha, Berlín and Budapest. Faculty of Commerce of the University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Social and Economic Relations of the University of Alexander Dubček in Trenčín and several departments of College of Economy and Management of Public Administration in Bratislava are locatedd in Nové Zámky. 2 Description of transportation services provided in the hub and legal background Rail Transport -- Rail Transport Act Ownership Railways of Slovak Republic (Železnice Slovenskej republiky, ŽSR) is the state-owned railway infrastructure company in Slovakia. The company was established in 1993 as the successor of the Československé štátní dráhy in Slovakia. Until 1996 it had formal and since then a de facto monopoly on railroad transportation in the country. In 2002 a law divided the company: ŽSR was left with infrastructure maintenance, and transport was moved into company "Železničná spoločnosť, a. s." (ZSSK). In 2005 this new company was further split into "Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a. s." (ZSSK) providing passenger services and "Železničná spoločnosť Cargo Slovakia, a. s." (ZSSK Cargo / ZSCS) providing freight services. ŽSR provides transportation and services that correspond to the interests of state transport policy and market requirements, including related activities. 3 ŽSR manage 3,623 kilometers (km) of lines. Furthermore, they report 8767 switches, 76 tunnels with a length of 43.375 km, 2,283 bridges with a length of 46.762 km 2,333 level crossings, of which 1,160 secured. Portfolio objects ŽSR manage is 3,776 buildings. The Railway company Slovakia, joint stock company (ZSSK, a.s.), has been established as of 1.January 2005. Legal form of ZSSK is the joint-stock company with equity capital of 21 2441 088 EUR. Nominal value of a share is 3 319 392 EUR. The founder of ZSSK and the only owner of sahres is the Slovak Republic. In accordance with the actual legislation, the shareholder rights in ZSSK are executed by the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional development of the Slovak republic. The main profit aactivity of ZSSK is transport of passengers. In January 2011, ZSSK lost its monopoly on subsidised passenger transport, as Regiojet was awarded a contract to operate Bratislava-Dunajská Streda - Komárno services. Railway company Cargo Slovakia, joint stock company (ZSSK Cargo, a.s.) is one of two newly established successors found on January 1, 2005 by splitting a former passenger and freight traffic operator – Železničná spoločnosť, a.s. It business follows up an over 160-year long history of railways in Slovakia. The Slovak Republic is its founder and 100% shareholder. The Ministry of Transport,Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic (MDVRR SR) acts on the government’s behalf. The essential roles of ZSSK CARGO are transport and business activities on railroad, in particular services oriented to transport and carriage of goods in rail freight traffic. In addition to supplementary services related directly to execution of freight and combined transport, ZSSK CARGO provides services related to renting of the rolling stock, its maintenance and repair as its second key service product. The Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic An important task and priority of the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak republic is the increase of the quality of transport infrastructure in the road, railway, air, water as well as intermodal transport. A quality transport infrastructure is not the only, but certainly one of the decisive factors influencing the development of the state and helping to eliminate the regional disparities. Therefore it is the ambition of the Government of the Slovak Republic to accelerate the modernize the railway the railway transport and to use the state budget resources, funds obtained by the implementation of the public private partnership projects and funds of the European transport corridors, but also the development of public passenger transport. The aim of the Government of SR and the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Development of the Slovak republic is to make the best of the financial resources for the implementation of the ambitious transport infrastructure and transport transport projects. One of key instruments for the achievement of the set aims is the successful implementation of projects cofinanced from the EU funds. On 13 September 2007 the European Commission approved the Operational Programme Transport 2007 – 2013. In this the framework for utilization of financial aid from the European Union in the amount of EUR 3 206 904 595 for the years 2007 – 2013 is defined. MTCRD SR as the Managing Authority for OPT has worked up the Programme Manual for OPT and set up the OPT Monitoring Committee for the purpose of the ffective implementation of the OPT. The basic fundamentals for formulating the Transport Policy of SR until 2015 (Transport Policy) are as following Conceptual and development documents approved on national and European level: 4 1. Principles of State Transport Policy of the Slovak Republic, 2. Development concepts in transport sector, in relation to other development concepts of national and regional scale, 3. White Paper – European Transport Policy for 2010 – Time To Decide, 4. Lisbon Strategy of EU. Formation of the Transport Policy of the Slovak Republic began during the establishment of the Slovak Republic, and it has required re-evaluation and redefinition of a new approach and strategy in satisfying economic and integration ambitions.