Network Industries Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1 – Regulation of the Railway Industry

Across the world, railways are poised to face new challenges, as all transport modes are transformed by technological innovations, liberalisation, competition with other modes of transport and most recently by digitalisation. Consequently, the railway industry is required to increase efficiency while ensuring security and safety, as it has to address multimodality, such as buses, as well as compete with new transport modes, such as car-sharing. Regulation of the railway industry and its various dimensions, not the least competition, is central factor in the process of its transformation and will ultimately decide whether railways will or will not increase their modal share.

This issue of the Network Industries Quarterly (NIQ) is dedicated to some of the best papers presented at the Florence Conference on the Regulation of Railways, which took place on November 16 and 17, 2018. Selected academics and practitioners were invited to Florence to discuss the latest developments in the field of railway regulation, such as competition in the market, role of regulatory agencies and economic perspectives.

Vicente Mampel assesses the content of lease agreements concluded by the state-owned rolling stock operating company in compliance with the sectoral legislation.

Herfurth presents a brief result of a cross-sectional analysis of the full population of the 28 public transport authorities in charge of short-distance rail services in Germany.

Quinet and Brunel look at the role of climate change in the traditional cost – benefit analysis in France, and analyse the impact of the shadow price of carbon on the socioeconomic evaluation of rail projects.

Schmotz presents a research project that is to explore the shortcomings of cross-border passenger rail from an institutionalist perspective.

Download full pdf – Network Industries Quarterly – vol 21 – issue nr 1 – year 2019