European Railway Deregulation : An overview of market organization and capacity allocation

• Railway markets in Europe have been reorganized to allow competition between different operators. Thus, European railways have been vertically separated, separating infrastructure management from provisions of train services. This allows several train operators to compete for passengers and freight services. Different ways have emerged for vertical separation, capacity allocation and track access charges. This paper reviews, compares and discusses important deregulation aspects, using examples from a number of European countries to show different possible solutions. The study describes how competition has been introduced and regulated, with a particular focus on describing the different ways capacity is allocated and how conflicting requests by different train operators are resolved. It also reviews the related issue of how access charges are constructed and applied. Although guided by the same European legislation, we conclude that the studied railways have different deregulation outcomes, e.g., market organization, capacity allocation. Besides, few countries have so far managed to create efficient and transparent processes for allocating capacity between competing train operators. Although allowed by the legislation, market-based allocation is absent or never used. In order to foster more competition which can yield substantial social benefits, the survey indicates that most European railways still need to develop and experiment with more efficient and transparent capacity allocation procedures.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Transportteknik och logistik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Transport Systems and Logistics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Railway deregulation

Vertical separation

Competition

Capacity allocation

Access charges

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)