Rail deregulation in Europe, and prospects of air rail integration

We are looking into the evolution of cooperation and competition between airlines and railroads, in the context of rail deregulation, with the tools provided by network economics. After looking at the progress of rail deregulation in Europe, we describe the situation of air and rail in terms of cooperation (intermodality). We then examine the current strategies of airlines and railroads considered as networks industries. In this light, we then analyse their possible strategies in a context of rail deregulation, with a complete opening of rail markets. We conclude by assessing the possibility of emergence of multi-modal network operators.