This paper sets out the origins and development of the UK's unique system of rail operation, funding and regulation. It sets out options to tackle the system's shortcomings to that it works better in the interests of customens and taxpayers. The industry needs the freedom to innovate, to deliver...

The European Commission years ago adopted a policy of encouraging the substitution of motor carrier haulage of freight with rail and water carrier haulage, as part of its “green” agenda of reducing fuel consumption, emission of pollutants, carbon intensity, and road congestion. Regarding...

Four ASEAN countries Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand are facing major air pollution problems due to rapid economic growth, urbanization and motorization. Mortality and respiratory diseases caused by air pollution are believed to be endemic in cities of these countries....

Most highways in urban China are tolled to finance their construction. During the eight-day National Day holiday in 2012, highway tolls are waived nationwide for passenger vehicles. We use this to test highway tolls’ effect on air pollution. Using daily pollution and weather data for 98...

LEZs (Low Emission Zones),is a defined area in many cities where access by certain polluting vehicles is restricted or deterred with the aim of improving the air quality. In many LEZs local governments introduces road pricing schemes in order to reduce social and environmental negative...

In its 2023 decision approving the acquisition of the Kansas City Southern Railway by the Canadian Pacific, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board conditioned its approval on the merged railway’s commitment “to keep gateways open on commercially reasonable terms” – that is, to allow...

The paper presents the results of a research on railway regulation and liberalisation in Italy, France, Germany and Spain. The analysed fields of regulation are the relationship between the State and the rail companies, network access conditions by operators, slot allocating and pricing schemes...

This paper aims to analyse the impact of port demand variability on the allocative efficiency of Spanish port authorities during the period 1986-2007. From a distance function model we can obtain a measure of allocative efficiency using two different approaches: error components approach and...

The Italian government is proceeding with the privatisation of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group, and is considering a merger with the government-owned highways company. In this article, we argue that changes could be made to the privatisation and reform process, learning from the British...

South Korea, like many countries, is engaged in a policy debate concerning possible railways reforms. However, unlike most countries, here the focus of discussion has been the government’s proposal to open high-speed passenger train lines to a second train company that would supply on-track...