Comparing Three Models for Introduction of Competition into Railways

This paper compares three European countries with long experience of competition in rail transport - Britain, Sweden, and Germany. Given the nature of the reforms undertaken, we would expect the British approach to be the most successful, with Sweden next and Germany least successful. But an examination of subsidy levels and trends in passenger and freight traffic finds that Germany has the slowest growth in public financial support for its railway, as well as the lowest increase in fares. While traffic growth is faster in the other countries, it is not clear that reforms there have provided better value for money. © 2013 LSE and the University of Bath