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Rail track charges in Great Britain--the issue of charging for capacity

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  • Nash, Chris
  • Coulthard, Simon
  • Matthews, Bryan

Abstract

Separation of infrastructure from operations in rail transport raises the issue of what should be the structure and level of charges for infrastructure use. This paper outlines the solution adopted in Britain, and how it has developed. It concludes that the principle defect in the current system is the lack of any charge to reflect scarce capacity. A way of measuring the capacity requirements of different types of train and of identifying their opportunity cost is put forward, but it is recognised that reflecting this in the charges would be complex.

Suggested Citation

  • Nash, Chris & Coulthard, Simon & Matthews, Bryan, 2004. "Rail track charges in Great Britain--the issue of charging for capacity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 315-327, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:11:y:2004:i:4:p:315-327
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephen Gibson & Grahame Cooper & Brian Ball, 2002. "Developments in Transport Policy: The Evolution of Capacity Charges on the UK Rail Network," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 36(2), pages 341-354, May.
    2. Quinet, Emile, 2003. "Short term adjustments in rail activity: the limited role of infrastructure charges," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 73-79, January.
    3. Nilsson, Jan-Eric, 2002. "Towards a welfare enhancing process to manage railway infrastructure access," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 419-436, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Müller, Gernot, 2006. "Zur Ökonomie von Trassenpreissystemen," WIK Discussion Papers 279, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    2. Talebian, Masoud & Savelsbergh, Martin & Moffiet, Chad, 2016. "A new rail access charging policy: Hunter Valley coal chain case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 101-108.
    3. Woodburn, Allan, 2007. "Appropriate indicators of rail freight activity and market share: A review of UK practice and recommendations for change," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 59-69, January.
    4. Bugarinovic, Mirjana & Boskovic, Branislav, 2015. "A systems approach to access charges in unbundling railways," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 848-860.
    5. Ait Ali, Abderrahman & Warg, Jennifer & Eliasson, Jonas, 2020. "Pricing commercial train path requests based on societal costs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 452-464.
    6. Andersson, Mats, 2007. "Fixed Effects Estimation of Marginal Railway Infrastructure Costs in Sweden," Working Papers 2007:11, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI).
    7. de Palma, André & Lindsey, Robin, 2007. "Chapter 2 Transport user charges and cost recovery," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-57, January.
    8. Martin Savelsbergh & Masoud Talebian, 2019. "Cost allocation under competition: a new rail access charging policy," EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 8(5), pages 511-534, December.
    9. Rotoli, Francesco & Valeri, Eva & Ricci, Stefano & Rizzetto, Luca & Malavasi, Gabriele, 2018. "An analysis of the railway access charges regime in the Italian context," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 20-28.
    10. Chris Nash, 2011. "Competition and Regulation in Rail Transport," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 33, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. White, Peter, 2006. "Competition in public transport in Great Britain," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 33, pages 69-82.

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