Options for Restructuring the State-Owned Monopoly Railway

Vertical separation in the freight railways sector may sacrifice significant economies of integration. Economies of density suggest that corresponding benefits may be elusive. We examine competitive alternatives to vertical separation. One option is the creation of competition among restructured vertically integrated railways, an option generally limited to relatively large countries absent willingness to create multinational railway networks. Second is the opening of the infrastructure of the integrated railway to access by train operating companies. Rarely are the benefits of separation of train from track likely to be so great as to outweigh the losses from the vertical separation itself.