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Assessing the Efficient Cost of Sustaining Britain's Rail Network: Perspectives based on Zonal Comparisons

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Author Info
John Kennedy
Andrew S. J. Smith
Abstract

The objective of this paper is to inform the debate on how efficiency targets for Network Rail (formerly Railtrack) should be set during the 2002/03 Interim Review and beyond. Given the problems experienced during the 2000 Periodic Review, which focused on external benchmarks, we propose an internal benchmarking approach, drawing on data for seven geographical zones within Railtrack. Our approach mirrors the yardstick competition method used in other UK regulated industries. Two efficiency measurement techniques are applied to this data. Our results suggest that Railtrack (as a whole) delivered substantial real unit cost reductions in the early years after privatisation, although these savings were largely offset by the post-Hatfield cost increases. However, looking forward, zonal efficiency differences suggest that the company could make significant savings in future years by applying best practice consistently across the network. © The London School of Economics and the University of Bath 2004

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Publisher Info
Article provided by London School of Economics and University of Bath in its journal Journal of Transport Economics and Policy.

Volume (Year): 38 (2004)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 157-190
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Handle: RePEc:tpe:jtecpo:v:38:y:2004:i:2:p:157-190

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Web page: http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-journals/jtep

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  1. Andersson, Mats, 2006. "Marginal railway infrastructure cost estimates in the presence of unobserved effects," Working Papers 2006:6, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI).
  2. Andersson, Mats, 2007. "Fixed Effects Estimation of Marginal Railway Infrastructure Costs in Sweden," Working Papers 2007:11, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI). [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-15.

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