Der Aufbau des Textes folgt dem Fragebogen der Monopolkommission vom 28.1.2025. Dieser ist gegliedert in die Abteilungen: I) Allgemeine Entwicklung der Wettbewerbsbedingungen II) DB InfraGO AG III) Entwicklungen der Trassenentgelte IV) Sonstiges Die 23 Fragen der Monopolkommission sind...

Purpose - Like a well-designed procurement strategy, a well-designed rolling stock strategy promotes the development of a railroad company and contributes to its competitive advantage. Effective implementation of the rolling stock strategy enhances the likelihood of enjoying the benefits of the...

This report highlights the ways in which rail is helping to create a more sustainable future, and examines the relationship between rail operations and the environment. It is a valuable contribution to discussions on the role that rail can play in greening transport. This report aims to reach a...

The Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2023 of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) is prepared in line with the provisions of the Agency Regulation (EU) No. 796/2016 and those of the Agency Financial Regulation (Management Board Decision no. 206/2019). The report describes the Agency's...

The Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2023 of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) is prepared in line with the provisions of the Agency Regulation (EU) No. 796/2016 and those of the Agency Financial Regulation (Management Board Decision no. 206/2019). The report describes the Agency's...

This report highlights the ways in which rail is helping to create a more sustainable future, and examines the relationship between rail operations and the environment. It is a valuable contribution to discussions on the role that rail can play in greening transport. This report aims to reach a...

Rail transport and inland waterways are crucial to achieve the objectives outlined in the Green Deal agenda. These aims include a 55% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and attaining climate neutrality by 2050. The Railway Guidelines play a fundamental role in this context, enabling support...

During its 20 years of work ERA delivered important benefits for the rail sector's safety and interoperability as well as for society at large. The Agency supported the European Commission on technical matters to develop a common approach to safety in the Union and by enhancing interoperability...

During its 20 years of work ERA delivered important benefits for the rail sector's safety and interoperability as well as for society at large. The Agency supported the European Commission on technical matters to develop a common approach to safety in the Union and by enhancing interoperability...

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to compare the competition and productivity of the US freight rail transportation industry for the past 41 years (1980 ∼ 2020), which consists of the two periods, before and after the abolishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1995....

This paper delves into the developmental trajectory and future prospects of China Railway (CR) Express, a containerized railway freight service between the People's Republic of China (the PRC) and Europe, and examines the associated infrastructure investment needs for enhancing Eurasian freight...

Although many economic and business historians have examined how American railroads colluded to raise rates or limit service, they have paid less attention to the many ways railroads cooperated to exchange cars and freight between companies and build needed interconnections. This article...

We study the impact of improved rail access on entrepreneurship rates in England and Wales. We use data from the Census spanning 2001, 2011, and 2021 to analyse self-employment rates in granular geographic areas of around 200 residents. Specifically, we study how they respond to changes in the...

How to protect "captive shippers" from monopolistic abuses by a railway? In an "open access" system, it's straightforward: provide infrastructure access to a competing train operating company. In a system without open access - as in, for example, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil -...

Railways are a low carbon way to access opportunities and move goods to markets. To realize the benefits of railways in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), an estimated USD 25-80 billion of investment annually will be needed. Many organizations and investors want to support green activities...

In early 2023 a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride - a hazardous chemical - derailed near East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment resulted in five of the cars carrying the chemical spilling their contents, which contaminated air and groundwater and forced the evacuation of several...

In der Mai-Ausgabe 2023 veröffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst einen Aufsatz mit dem Titel "Schieneninfrastruktur: wenig Mut zu radikalen Reformen" von Alexander Eisenkopf. Jonas Becker vertritt in einer Replik eine andere Auffassung; im Anschluss erläutert Alexander Eisenkopf seinen Standpunkt...

On the China-Europe route, the sea used to dominate entirely continental transports, but in the last decade the railways started to gain some ground. However, it took number of years that railway volumes grew as significant, and finally coronavirus era (2020-2021) promoted much higher usage....

In 2017, the German federal government passed the Railroad Noise Protection Act to reduce the noise emitted by freight trains. This paper evaluates the effects of this law on house prices by using regional variation comparing affected homes close to train tracks and homes in greater distance...

In 1963’s “The Reshaping of British Railways,” physicist and engineer Richard Beeching said that the rail system had far too many stations and far too much trackage. Here, I show that the relationship between rail revenue and the rail network can be characterized by power law...

The article explores the current state and future scenario of the Chinese railway lines routes through Central Asia and Afghanistan taking into account the Taliban regime. Since ancient times, Central Asia has been a crossroad of trade routes, which in modern times largest geopolitical actors...

This report presents the outcome of a feasibility study for the development of a European scale rail connectivity index. A first iteration of a tool computing and communicating the rail connectivity index has been developed, following the outcome of the feasibility study.

The Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2022 of the EU Agency for Railways is prepared in line with the provisions of the Agency Regulation (EU) No. 796/2016 and those of the Agency Financial Regulation (Management Board Decision no. 206/2019). The report describes the Agency's performance,...

The Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2022 of the EU Agency for Railways is prepared in line with the provisions of the Agency Regulation (EU) No. 796/2016 and those of the Agency Financial Regulation (Management Board Decision no. 206/2019). The report describes the Agency's performance,...

The study governs to examine the various dimensions of e-service quality from the customer perspectives particularly in the Indian Railways. The study also highlights the various e-service aspects of Indian Railways in catering and hospitality services. The scope of the study focuses on the...

In attempting to understand the genesis and scope of modern cost and management accounting systems, accounting historians adopting what has been labelled a ‘Foucauldian’ approach have been rewriting the history of key 18th and 19th century developments in the U.K. and U.S. through new...

Rail liberalisation in Europe is an on-going process, with a high degree of heterogeneity across countries. Its long-run effects on the rail market however are still debated. This paper focuses on the specific case of the Italian rail market and explores the link between presence of head-on...

This paper explores the interplay between the extent of transportation infrastructure and various aspects of trust (interpersonal and political trust). We test our hypothesis by exploiting cross regional variation during the period 2002-2019. We focus on two measures of infrastructure, i.e., the...

This study examines the potential merger gains and its decomposition effects of Chinese railways. A DEA approach proposed by Bogetoft and Wang (2005) is used to estimate the effects of the ex-ante mergers of 18 Regional Railway Administrations (RRAs) during the period of 2013 to 2017. We find...

We provide a model of local railway passengers service able to account for the main specific characteristics of the sector under vertical separation. Afterwards, we use this model to carry out both a normative analysis of the operators’ investment decisions and an assessment of the welfare...