Rail IPO a “theoretical possibility”
The head of Swiss Federal Railways has called partial privatisation a "theoretical possibility" and at the same time has expressed reservations about the idea.
The interview with Andreas Meyer was published on Sunday in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
Meyer said a partial initial public offering was one of three options to finance some SFr30 billion ($29.3 billion) in future capital investments for the publicly owned railway.
But he cautioned that privatisation, suggested by Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger one week ago, would bring “money only once into the fund”.
He added that any private shareholders would want a return on their investment.
Two alternatives to privatisation would be to raise additional funds from the federal and cantonal governments, or to eventually finance new infrastructure through higher fares, he said.
“There are no price increases planned,” he assured.
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