Economic Situation In The Railway Industry

Economic Analysis and Policy Evaluation in the Railway Industry: An International Perspective provides a systematic description of key topics of modern rail systems. Contributors evaluate the economic effects of forces shaping railway and transportation industries worldwide. The book covers a description of the recent evolution of the sector emphasizing those countries or areas where railways have achieved different degrees of development. Economic concepts, techniques and applied empirical models are considered to illustrate the different aspects of the rail markets. The assessment of regulatory, competition and infrastructure issues related to rail markets are also described with detail. Assesses the economics of restructuring, competition policy, pricing and investments in rail markets Provides insights to understadn the behaviour of rail markets Illustrates the opportunities and risks of various regulatory policies

The passage of the Staggers Rail Act in 1980 led brought a renaissance to the freight rail industry. In the decade following, economists documented the effects of the Act on a variety of important economic metrics including prices, costs, and productivity. Over the preceding years, and with the return of the industry to more stable footing, attention to the industry by economists faded. The lack of attention, however, has not been due to a dearth of ongoing economic and policy issues that continue to confront the industry. In this volume, we begin to rectify this inattention. Rather than retread older analyses or provide yet another look at the consequences of Staggers, we assemble a collection of ten chapters in four sections that collectively provide fresh and up-to-date analyses of the economic issues and policy challenges the industry faces: the first section sets the context through foundational discussion of freight rail; the second section highlights the role of freight rail in an increasingly interrelated economy; the third section examines industry structure and scope in freight rail; and the fourth section assesses current regulatory challenges that confront freight rail. This book will be of great value to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students interested in the fields of freight rail economics and policy, transportation, business history, and regulatory economics.

The European railway sector has undergone profound and predominantly institutional changes over the past 20 years, due to the initiatives of the European Commission. This book constitutes a first systematic assessment and account of the recent transformations of the industry along a series of critical yet contentious issues such as competition, unbundling, regulation, access charging, standards and interoperability, and public–private partnerships. It also covers the main railways sectors including passenger transport, high speed and freight.

The intercity electric railway industry in Canada, which began in 1887, ended in 1959. It was never a major industry but its role in the transition of Canadian land transportation from almost sole reliance on the steam railroad to dominance of the motor vehicle should not be overlooked. Professor Due's study, divided into two parts, presents first a general review of the development, characteristics, financial situation, and decline of the industry and then a brief history of each of the twenty-five companies which operated in the industry. (Canadian Studies in Economics, No. 18)