In order to support the decision on the national railway network franchise, the Presidium of the Dutch Lower House has requested a second opinion on the future main railway network franchise (OC2) from three independent research agencies (TG, TNO and IMCG). This paper contains an analysis of the transport competence. The analysis initially looks back on the preceding period ( 1995-2000), in which transition contract I applied. The transport developments have been analysed and the extent to which agreements have been kept has been monitored. On the basis of this knowledge, OC2 has been assessed. All the agreements made in transition contract II appear to be reasonably verifiable so long as the correct information to verify them becomes available. Agreements on tariffs are not flexible enough while agreements on the growth of the transport volume and punctuality are, in the absence of supplementary agreements, highly ambitious and dependent on external factors. Therefore, these agreements are vulnerable in terms of attainability and maintainability. From the perspective of sustainability, supplementary agreements will need to be made on the lasting cohesion with other transport provision and on continual product renewal in respect of rail infrastructure, train material and management. (Author/publisher) The longer version of this study is published by TNO Inro (Netherlands), and for the abstract see ITRD E206471. For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E206647.
Abstract