European Rail Reform - The Next Steps

Abstract

Whilst the emphasis of European Union rail legislation to date has been on freight, measures such as separation of infrastructure from operations, infrastructure charging regimes and regulation have major implications for the passenger sector. However, a number of problems with the implementation of these measures have emerged; these issue are reviewed. The Commission would clearly like to completely open the passenger market to competition by a combination of competition for the market for subsidised services and in the market for commercial services. The member states have so far not agreed to this, but the first required market opening will come in 2010 in the case of international passenger services. Experience to date with rail passenger market opening and the prospects for the future are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that further action to clarify and enforce existing legislation is urgently needed. In the meantime the best way to liberalise rail passenger services remains unclear – whilst competitive tendering has generally worked well with tightly prescribed gross cost contracts, there are problems with both franchising and open access for more commercial services. Further research on these issues is still needed