This report examines the form regulation should take in rail freight markets to promote efficiency in railways and the wider economy. It analyses issues of monopoly, scale economies, competition, mergers, ownership and the structure of the rail industry. Experience in North America, Australia, Japan, the European Union and countries from eastern and western Europe is reviewed. The need for regulation differs by market and, together with political constraints, this means that regulatory models can not be transferred wholesale from one continent to another. However, each region provides important lessons for reforms currently under consideration in all ECMT and OECD countries.
Table of contents:
-Executive Summary: Principal Questions for Regulatory Reform and the Development of Rail Freight Markets -Regulatory Reform and the Development of Rail Freight Markets -Regulatory Issues --Introduction ---Trends in Regulatory Reform ---Economic Characteristics of the Railway Industry ---Objectives of Regulatory Reform --Rail Industry Trends by Region ---EU Member States ---Central and Eastern Europe ---The United States --Railway Performance ---Partial Productivity Figures for European Railways ---Total Factor Productivity Analysis - North American and Australia --Rail Freight Markets and Regulation --Rail Industry Structure and Regulation ---Monopoly ---Separation of Infrastructure ----Competition ---Alliances and Mergers ---Impact of Passenger Freight Transport on Rail Freight ---Ownership --Intermodal Competition and Infrastructure Charges ---Distortion of Competition ---Market Failure and Infrastructure Charges ---Cost Recovery and Financial Issues ---Other Aspects of the Regulation of Infrastructure Charges --Replicability of Models --Conclusions -Regulatory Reform in Selected Countries --Europe ---Railway Reform in the European Union ---Pricing of Infrastructure for Rail Freight in EU Member States ---Czech Republic ---France ---Germany ---Poland ---Romania ---Switzerland ---United Kingdom --North America ---United States ---Canada --Pacific ---Australia ----Japan Appendix: Railway Performance
