Competition in passenger railways in Europe

Introducing competition to the railway market is a long and difficult process and it is still ongoing. The fourth railway package has been adopted making market opening in passenger railways mandatory in the upcoming years. Therefore the debate is now evolving from a theoretical conversation to a very concrete debate on how to put a railway system based on competition into practice. The Florence Railway Executive Seminar brought together the commissions’ Directorate General for Mobility (DG MOVE) as well as the Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) to discuss with academics and sector representatives. Experts in competition law and experts in sector specific regulation brought forward many different ideas of how competition regulation in railways might actually look like.