Switch replaced and more inspections after ICE train derailment in Basel
The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) are to make a series of changes following the derailment of an ICE train at the SBB train station on 29th November 2017. The latest results of an ongoing investigation into the incident were yesterday published, although the exact cause of the incident remains unclear. The investigation also took into account two other derailment incidents which happened in the same year. In March 2017, a Eurocity train, owned by Trenitalia, derailed at Lucerne train station. One week later, a commuter train derailed at Bern train station and on 29th November, an ICE broke the tracks in Basel. A row of deplorable events? Why exactly did this happen? The SBB set out to investigate.
A chain of elements in Basel and Lucerne
The SBB found that all of these derailments incidents occurred on switches. The accident in Bern had a clear cause. «It was a fatigue fracture of a part of the switch,» Philippe Gauderon, member of the managerial board and manager of SBB infrastructure, said. The causes of the incidents in Lucerne and Basel remain unclear. There were no relevant anomalies of the infrastructure and the maintenance was always secure, according to Mr Gauderon. «It was probably a chain of elements which on their own would not have led to derailments,» he said. The similarities of the accidents in Lucerne and Basel enabled the SBB to propose a hypothesis about the cause of the accidents.
Immediate measurements
Both accidents occurred on double slip switches which connect four rails. This complex system has been in use for 45 years, and there are 45 such switches in Switzerland. Four among them are used regularly for passenger traffic – two are located in Lucerne and the other two in Basel. Exactly where these accidents occurred. In both cases high-speed trains were affected. «We assume that the switches were one element leading to the derailment», according to Stefan Sommer, manager for travel routes at SBB infrastructure. This reasoning results in an immediate replacement of the critical switches. «We are changing the sealing type of these switches and replace them with a modern system,» Stefan Sommer explained. This work is expected to be finished by end of March 2018. The replacement at all 45 double slip switches is expected to last until the end of 2019.
Security
However, this is not the only measure which has been implemented. The SBB are to inspect switches more often and with the help of machine-driven surveillance equipment. «With this, the dynamic effects and the state of the switch can be investigated more thoroughly,» explained Mr Gauderon. This is a standard procedure for switches on open routes since higher speeds leads to more pressure on the infrastructure. As one of the first railway companies in Europe, the SBB will supervise the most used switches in train stations with measuring vehicles. «The SBB learn from every event,» Mr Gauderon said. «We take all incidents very seriously and we want to improve security. Even if every rule is followed, accidents can still happen, as the incidents in 2017 have shown.» However, he insisted that the SBB do not have an issue with safety. The full report by the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board has yet to be published, and the investigations remain ongoing. Despite all three incidents last year, it is still clear that trains are still the safest way to travel. And for once, the focus is not on the smoking ban at the train stations, but security.
Roche expects profit increase due to tax reform in US
The Basel pharmaceutical giant Roche is expecting to save a large amount of money due to the tax reform in the United States introduced by President Donald Trump. Trump gave this gift to the pharmaceutical industry despite initially blaming it for «exaggerating drug prices». The tax reform, which has been in force since the end of last year, is set to save the Swiss concern a large amount of money along with its US competitors, Pfizer and AbbVie. This development has been welcomed by Roche CEO Severin Schwan, who expects less growth due to the growing competition in cancer drugs which brings in billions of revenue.
This year, the turnover could stagnate or rise by a single figure percentage, Dr Schwan said on Thursday. However, he added that profit could rise in 2018 due to the US tax reform. The world's biggest producer of cancer drugs once again promised its shareholders a higher dividend pay-out. Roche expects its profit - adjusted after a few extra expenses - to rise by a high single figure percentage per participation certificate and share. The specification is valid by excluding change rate fluctuations. According to Dr Schwan, America has become more attractive as a business site. «There is no doubt that the US have increased their competitiveness with this tax reform,» said the CEO. Thanks to the reform, Roche expects to save hundreds of millions, according to finance manager, Alan Hippe. The tax rate would be reduced from 26,6 per cent last year to around 20 per cent.
The stock exchange set the pace with the clouded growth expectations. With a decrease of the share value by one per cent, Roche belongs to the biggest losers in the European health sector. Tax advantages could not belie the pressure on growth caused by the competition by imitating drugs, analysts explained.
Biosimilars take a chunk out of the turnover
Last year, Roche's profit rose by five per cent to 53,3 billion Swiss francs (46 billion Euros) after exchange rate adjustments. However, the company is threatened by a loss in profits thanks to cheaper imitation drugs flooded the market after the patent protection of the cancer drugs MabThera, Herceptin, and Avastin (which are worth billions) ran out. The first sign of this could be seen in sales of the biggest turnover generating drug, MabThera. In Europe, so-called biosimilars to the biotechnologically-produced blood cancer drug by Cellitrion and Novartis entered the market last year. The effect of this was that sales dropped by eleven per cent and only slightly rose worldwide. Analysts fear that Roche could suffer a drought for many years to come, since these three drugs make up more than 40 per cent of the turnover. However, Dr Schwan said he remained «positive» that Roche can grow in the next year thanks to new drugs and despite the losses caused by the biosimilar competitors. «There is a chance that we don't just compensate but overcompensate with our new drugs,» he emphasised. Among the drugs which recently have entered the market is the cancer immunotherapy drug Tecentriq, which contributed to the sales by 487 million francs. Ocrevus, a drug on sale since March which helps multiple sclerosis patients, brings in a revenue of 869 million francs. This year Ocrevus would «without any effort» exceed the limit of the billion, Roche pharmaceutical boss, Daniel O'Day, said.
Below the line, the profit in 2017 sank by nine per cent to 8,8 billion francs due to write-offs. This was caused especially by billions of losses to the value of the drug, Esbriet, which was brought into Roche through the takeover of InterMune, which cost Roche 83 billion dollars. The drug is used in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The shareholders will get a higher dividend from Roche regardless: CHF 8.30 per participation certificate and share, CHF 0.1 more than the previous year.