On 25 November 2024, the High-Speed Rail: Leveraging Financial Models for Infrastructure (HS FMI) project was officially launched at the UIC headquarters in Paris during a hybrid meeting with over 20 participants.
Infrastructure financing plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of transport projects. This 36-month long initiative seeks to revolutionise transport infrastructure project financing by analysing a global database of infrastructure projects to identify best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from a large range of financial models and settings. The initiative will offer a detailed analysis of how various financial models distribute risks and responsibilities, helping stakeholders to understand which models best align with specific project typologies.
As transport infrastructure and especially high-speed rail projects often face long decision-making timelines due to the complexities of designing robust financial schemes due to the substantial investment needed and managing the associated risks, risk allocation and management are critical to their success.
Therefore, the HS FMI project focuses on three primary financial models widely used in transport infrastructure:
1. Conventional state-owned ownership
2. Franchise models
3. Build-operate-transfer-maintain (BOTM)
By evaluating the performance of these models across different projects, the initiative aims to guide decision-makers in selecting the most suitable financial scheme for future high-speed rail investment.
his coordinated effort prevents the need for individual UIC members to independently conduct similar studies, reducing the chance of having inefficiencies and fragmented outcomes. Centralising this research under the UIC ensures a comprehensive and standardised approach to the evaluation of financial models, saving resources and enhancing accuracy.
This initiative is backed by prominent infrastructure managers and railway undertakings, including Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF), Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane SpA (FSI).
By leveraging a global database of transport projects, the HS FMI project aims to provide practical guidance and actionable insights for policymakers, investors, and infrastructure developers. Its findings will contribute to shaping sustainable policies and regulations while ensuring that future transport infrastructure projects are not only financially viable but also efficient and effective.
This coordinated international effort will play a crucial role in promoting innovative and sustainable financing strategies, paving the way for a more connected and resilient high-speed rail network worldwide.
Learn more about the project at https://uic.org/projects-99/article/hs-fmi.
