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Open access passenger rail services in Central Europe

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  • Tomeš, Zdeněk
  • Jandová, Monika

Abstract

Open access passenger rail services have been well established in Central Europe. They have been in operation in Austria on the Vienna–Salzburg line from 2011, in the Czech Republic on the Prague–Ostrava line from 2011, and in Slovakia on the Žilina–Košice line from 2014. These open access entries are all on principal domestic railway lines and have caused major increases in train frequencies. New entrants have introduced many service innovations and utilized aggressive price cuts. As a result, they have been able to win substantial market shares from incumbents. This article compares the impacts of open access entries on the development of railway markets in Central Europe. The comparison covers entry barriers, business models, market developments, and regulatory challenges. The main results are that open access competition has strongly stimulated ridership, but the impact on market revenues has been only moderate due to price reductions. The total costs on the market went up and both newcomers and incumbents are struggling with the profitability of their open access operations. We conclude that open access passenger rail services in Central Europe have led not only to significant benefits for customers but also cost increases and significant regulatory challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomeš, Zdeněk & Jandová, Monika, 2018. "Open access passenger rail services in Central Europe," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 74-81.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:72:y:2018:i:c:p:74-81
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2018.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tomeš, Zdeněk & Kvizda, Martin & Jandová, Monika & Rederer, Václav, 2016. "Open access passenger rail competition in the Czech Republic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 203-211.
    2. Thorsten Beckers & Christian von Hirschhausen & Fabian Haunerland & Matthias Walter, 2009. "Long-Distance Passenger Rail Services in Europe: Market Access Models and Implications for Germany," OECD/ITF Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion Papers 2009/22, OECD Publishing.
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    5. Bergantino, Angela S. & Capozza, Claudia & Capurso, Mauro, 2015. "The impact of open access on intra- and inter-modal rail competition. A national level analysis in Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 77-86.
    6. Fröidh, Oskar & Nelldal, Bo-Lennart, 2015. "The impact of market opening on the supply of interregional train services," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 189-200.
    7. Vigren, Andreas, 2017. "Competition in Swedish passenger railway: Entry in an open access market and its effect on prices," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 11, pages 49-59.
    8. Tomeš, Zdeněk & Kvizda, Martin & Nigrin, Tomáš & Seidenglanz, Daniel, 2014. "Competition in the railway passenger market in the Czech Republic," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 270-276.
    9. Wheat, Phill & Smith, Andrew S.J. & Rasmussen, Torris, 2018. "Can competition for and in the market co-exist in terms of delivering cost efficient services? Evidence from open access train operators and their franchised counterparts in Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 114-124.
    10. Bergantino, Angela S. & Capozza, Claudia & Capurso, Mauro, 2015. "The impact of open access on intra- and inter-modal rail competition. A national level analysis in Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 77-86.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jakub Chini & Martin Kvizda & Ondřej Špetík, 2023. "What is the real power of incumbents? Case study on the Czech Republic," Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, , vol. 24(1), pages 24-39, March.
    2. Nacima Baron, 2021. "Railway Terminal Regulation [La régulation des gares ferroviaires]," Post-Print hal-03231277, HAL.
    3. Ristić, Bojan & Stojadinović, Nikola & Trifunović, Dejan, 2022. "Conditions for effective on-track competition in the European passenger railway market: A yardstick for regulations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-15.
    4. Sobotkiewicz Dariusz & Waniowski Paweł, 2021. "Influence of the organizational structure of Polish passenger railways on the process of communication with customers," Management, Sciendo, vol. 25(2), pages 187-205, December.
    5. Beria, Paolo & Tolentino, Samuel & Filippini, Gabriele, 2020. "Are prices reduced from direct competition in high-speed rail? Some unexpected evidences from Italy," MPRA Paper 98841, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Seidenglanz, Daniel & Taczanowski, Jakub & Król, Marcin & Horňák, Marcel & Nigrin, Tomáš, 2021. "Quo vadis, international long-distance railway services? Evidence from Central Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Brand, Christina & Sieg, Gernot, 2022. "An integral interval timetable for long-distance passenger rail services: Time to reconsider targeting on-track competition," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Open access competition; Open access operations; Central European railways; Railway regulation; Passenger rail;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation

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