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EU fines Austrian and Czech train companies for blocking rival

The European Commission on Wednesday said it had handed an overall fine of 48.7 million euros ($ 52.5. million) to Austrian rail company Osterreichische Bundesbahnen. ( OBB) and its Czech peer Ceske drahy (CD) for blocking a Czech. rival's market growth.

The commission stated both companies had restricted. competition by colluding to avoid that a new entrant,. RegioJet, might purchase the utilized wagons it needed for its expansion.

Czech rail company RegioJet entered the long-distance rail. guest transport market in the Czech Republic in 2011,. relying generally on used wagons in order to take on CD and. OBB.

The European Commission had sent out a statement of objections. setting out its charges to OBB and CD in 2022, in a case that. started with the EU competitors firm making dawn raids on the. companies in June 2016.

(source: Reuters)