Europe's railways are going through a period of radical restructuring in the drive to improve their efficiency and competitiveness. The emphasis is on fostering commercial freedom through a clearer separation of the roles of the State and of rail enterprises and through a progressive opening of access to rail infrastructure. This report examines reforms in over 30 countries from the Atlantic to the Urals, characterizing restructuring in terms of management independence, separation of infrastructure from operations and rights of access to rail infrastructure.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. APPLICATION OF ECMT RESOLUTIONS AND EU DIRECTIVES
-EU Member States
-Norway, Switzerland and Turkey
-New Member Countries
3. CHARACTERISATION OF RAIL RESTRUCTURING IN ECMT MEMBER COUNTRIES
-3.1 Improvement of the Finances of Railway Undertakings
-3.2 Independence
--Ownership
--Government influence over investment decisions
--Public service obligations
--Tariff regulation
--Degree of independence
-3.3 Separation of Infrastructure from Operations
-3.4 Access to Infrastructure
--Fees for the use of infrastructure
--Impact of regulations to provide access rights
4. CONCLUSIONS
NATIONAL PROFILES
ANNEXES
-ECMT Resolution 93/6
-ECMT Resolution 95/3
-Directive 91/440/EEC
-Directive 95/18/EC
-Directive 95/19/EC