This article deals with transportation networks, (rail) traffic networks and (rail) infrastructure networks. It analyses the interdependence between networks within (horizontal) layers. The focus is on the new high-speed link between Amsterdam and the Belgian border and on ways of optimising the use of the existing railway network. The government's policy has been to encourage railway franchises to improve performance, but safeguarding network benefits is a complicated matter when franchises are vertically integrated. To illustrate this point, several models are analysed in the light of the new high-speed line. Where use of the infrastructure is concerned, network benefits need to be examined strategically, from the point of view of the railway network. (A)
Abstract