The European Commission adopted on 23 January 2002 a new package ('second package') of measures to revitalize the railways by rapidly building an integrated European railway area. New proposals are today being developed by the European Union: the European Commission has indeed adopted on 3 March 2004 its third railway package containing measures to move the European railways forward. The aim of this paper is to investigate - through comparative institutional analysis and public economics methodologies (scale and scope economies, benchmarking measures, data on traffic, financial results, productivity and efficiency analysis in Europe and East Europe) - the today situation of the Railway Reform in Europe. The challenge and limits of the reform introduced by the Commission are outlined. What are the today real brakes of the railway reform? The development of the reform is then limited by the wish of some public authorities - France, Germany, Italy - not to destabilize the financial situation - in the framework of the Maastricht treaty - of the national operators but also to keep the leading position of the national operator which is "satisfactory" at this point for some governments. In France, the financial support of the Central State is an accurate issue of the future of the reform and has to be clarified, maybe also at a European level. The common problems of the railway reform by are highlighted, including entry barriers in railway transport which are very high for newcomers, and the impact of the regionalization reform in some countries, for example France. It is shown that regionalization is based on a double negotiation process : first, with the central State, it deals with the determination of financial grants due to this transfer of competence without transfer of charges. Secondly, it deals with a negotiation for establishing a convention Transport Authority / Regions and Operators. For the covering abstract please see ITRD E135207.
Abstract