MICHAEL
SCHABA
PASSENGER RAIL
● Urban ● Passenger ● Freight ● Reform ● CV/Resume ● Contact ● Home
FURTHER READING
Rail tourism in Uzbekistan, Asian Development Bank, 2002
On Rail Competition: Taking the Biscuit? Modern Railways, April 2001
Competitive Behaviour in Britain’s Privatised Rail Industry, Oxford University, 2000
Michael Schabas has developed and operated passenger rail businesses in Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Australia.
2006 Negotiated a joint venture between FirstGroup Plc and DSB, the Danish State Railways, which successfully bid for the Oresund Concession operating passenger trains from Oslo to Malmo and Gothenburg, Sweden.
2004 Led a group of investors who acquired an interest in Ofotbanen, an independent rail operator carrying passengers and freight in Norway and Sweden.
2002 Reviewed rail tourism opportunities for Uzbekistan Railways, under contract to the Asian Development Bank. Rail Tourism in Uzbekistan
1995-2003 Founded GB Railways Group Plc (GB) to acquire and develop railway businesses. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in 1997, and was acquired by FirstGroup Plc in 2003. See GBR 2002 Annual Report
● GB operated the Anglia Railways franchise from 1997 to 2004. With turnover of £80m, Anglia operated 160km/h InterCity services in eastern England. Anglia was top rated by the UK Government with 50% passenger revenue growth and was twice named Train Operator of the Year. Anglia doubled mainline services and introduced new routes and through train services. See Delivering Better Train Services. Michael Schabas developed key strategies in the winning franchise bid.
● GB led the Great Southern Railway (GSR) consortium which acquired the Indian Pacific, Ghan and Overland trains in Australia. Previously threatened with closure under state ownership, GSR continues to operate all three services profitably.
● GB established Hull Trains, the first new passenger train company in the UK since privatisation. It now runs seven daily services between London and Hull in northeast England, using a new fleet of 225km per hour trains.
● GB led the acquisition of Edelaraudtee, a passenger and freight railway in Estonia and the first fully privatised railway in the former Soviet Union.
● GB bid, unsuccessfully, for: Malawi Railways; Sydney-Canberra High Speed Line (with Siemens and Babcock & Brown); Melbourne passenger rail trains and trams (with GATX and Siemens); and the Cuzco-Macchu Picchu Railway (with Genesee & Wyoming).
1994-1995 Founded WCML DevCo, a joint venture of Babcock & Brown, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Gibb Consulting, which was retained by Railtrack Plc to devise ways to define, fund and implement the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line.
ADVISOR / speaker
● Forum 1520, "Human Resources in the New Railway Industry," Sochi, Russia, May 2008.
● BAG-SPNV Annual Conference, "Rail Ticketing in the UK," Berlin, May 2008.
● Inspire East: Planning Sustainable Suburbs, Cambridge University, March 2008.
● World Bank Railways Day: Investing in Railways: Buyer's Perspectives, Washington, March 2005
● Competition and Open Access: Rail Regulation Conference, London, October 2002.
● World Bank Railway Roundtable, Vienna, September 1999.
● AMTRAK Reform Council on options for reforming AMTRAK, 1999.
●
Transport Canada seminar on options for reform of VIA Rail Canada,
1998.
● AUSRail '97, Melbourne, Australia, November 1997.
●
Queensland Rail seminar on structuring of public-private partnerships
● AIC Conference "Rail Privatisation: What Next, " February 1996.
● Angel Train Contracts, a British Rolling Stock Leasing Company, 1996.
PUBLICATIONS
● Rail Tourism in Uzbekistan, Asian Development Bank, 2002.
● On Rail Competition: Taking the Biscuit? Modern Railways, April 2001
● Competitive Behaviour in Britain’s Privatised Rail Industry, Privatisation and Deregulation of Transport, Oxford University Regulatory Policy Research Centre, Macmillan 2000.
Updated June 2008
Founded Britain's first 'open access' passenger train company
Great
Southern Railway
Conceived the strategy which turned Australia's long-distance passenger
trains from loss to profit