12th Florence Rail Forum. How to define, measure, and improve the performance of the European railway system?

Railway traffic in Europe has increased over the past decade, and it is the aim of European policy makers to further promote the shift of passenger and cargo traffic from road to rail. However, to make railways the backbone of an efficient, sustainable and cohesive multimodal mobility system, the overall performance of the railway system has to improve. Even though everyone agrees on this, the very definition of performance and especially its  measurement remains controversial.

Performance can be quantitatively defined by means of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), themselves composed of a set of different parameters and variables. Aiming at the development  of a comprehensive performance culture in the sector, the different rail stakeholders have been working on the issue for many years: they have defined their own KPIs and several transnational working groups and fora are currently working on performance. However, the indicators chosen and the data gathered by the different stakeholders are not always comparable, thus hindering comparison, benchmarking and improvement.

As of recently, the European Commission is stressing the need to further develop performance and performance indicators while making the  best use of the already existing efforts and achievements. In particular, in order to take concrete legislative steps, it is urgent to agree not only on the definition of the performance indicators, but also on the way regulators have to make use of them. Several options are under consideration: should benchmarks be included in market legislation? If so, which indicators should be included? To improve the performance of the sector, should an incentive scheme be developed?

At the 12^th Florence Rail Forum we aim at discussing the different aspects of the performance of the European railway system. Furthermore, and thanks to the contribution of leading experts, we will compare and confront the peculiarities of the already existing performance scheme of the air transport sector with the possible evolution of the performance scheme of the railway sector. Together with the European Commission, representatives of railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, regulators, manufacturers, associations, as well as leading academics will discuss the following questions:

• Which performance indicators are of relevance for each stakeholder and how are they measured?
• What the core aspects of rail business are where performance needs to be improved? How to create right incentives?
• How should national and EU rail market legislation evolve to safeguard better performance?
• What can we learn from the experience of benchmarking the performance in the air transport sector?

Among others, Mr Olivier Onidi, Director of the DG MOVE Unit B “European Mobility Network”, Ms Annika Kroon, Policy Officer in the Single European Rail Area Unit of DG MOVE, Mr Rolf Tuchhardt, responsible for the performance scheme of Air Navigation Services in the Single European Sky Unit of DG MOVE, and Mr Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director of the European Railway Agency, will be present and engage in the debate.

Together with Prof Matthias Finger, FSR Transport Director, representatives of academia will stimulate the discussion: among others, Prof Chris Nash (ITS Leeds) and Prof Juan José Montero (UNED Madrid) will be in Florence.

For more information or registration, please contact FSR.Transport@eui.eu

To learn more about our activities in the field of rail regulation, please visit our dedicated webpage.

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Final Programme

Summary of the presentations

European Transport Regulation Observer

RELATED PRESENTATIONS

Introduction to the 12th Florence Rail Forum – MATTHIAS FINGER, Part-time Professor & Director of the Transport Area, Florence School of Regulation/EUI; and Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

How to define, measure and improve performance of the railway system? DG MOVE perspective – OLIVIER ONIDI, Director for the European Mobility Network, DG MOVE and ANNIKA KROON, Policy Officer, DG MOVE Unit Single European Rail Area

Key Performance Indicators in Railways- Who measures what? – VICTOR VAUGOIN, Head of Brussels Office, ÖBB

Which performance indicator is valuable for each stakeholder and how are they measured? – GILLES PETERHANS, Secretary General, UIP Rail

Which performance indicator is valuable for each stakeholder and how are they measured? – ARCANGELO FORNELLI, Vice President, Hitachi Rail Italy

The role of competition in passenger rail services: performance and incentives – ANTONIO MANGANELLI, Sector Regulation Manager, UK Competition and Markets Authority

Which are the core aspects of rail business where performance needs to be improved? How to create right incentives? – MARKUS KSOLL, Head of Competition and Regulation Policy, DB

KPI and Regulation – GREGOIRE MARLOT, Head of Railway Strategy and Regulation Department, SNCF

Which are the core aspects of rail business where performance needs to be improved? How to create right incentives? – VERONICA ELENA BOCCI, Coordinator, DITECFER

SES Performance Scheme – ROLF TUCCHARDT, Policy Officer, DG MOVE Unit Single European Sky

Remarks on the Performance of the European Railway System – JOSEF DOPPELBAUER, Executive Director, European Railway Agency

How should national and EU rail market legislation evolve to safeguard better performance? – MICHAEL SÜNDER, Senior Advisor for Regulatory and International Affairs, SBB

How should national and EU rail market legislation evolve to safeguard better performance – ALICE POLO, Senior Interoperability and Safety Manager, UNIFE

The evaluation index for transport disruption – ICHIRO TAKAHASHI, Head of Brussels Office, EJRC