Posted October 1, 2024Oct 1 If your shipping company has trained crews, a freight train and some fuel, you can't just show up and the use an American railroad company's right of way. Yet, this is how things are trending in Europe. Will it happen here? Should it happen here? Yes, I think so... PRESS RELEASE New European Commission Study Confirms The Benefits Of Competition In Passenger Rail Last week, the EU Commission published a Study highlighting the benefits of competition in passenger rail transport, in both Open Access (competition in the market) and competitively tendered Public Service Obligations (‘PSOs’ – competition for the market). The Study adds to the ever-growing evidence that competition, both in Open Access and PSOs, delivers benefits for All — passengers, operators, taxpayers, and the climate — that are crucial for accelerating the modal shift to rail. The Study reveals that commercially driven ‘Open Access’ competition “both decreased ticket prices and improved the quality of the service as compared to the situation prior to the start of competition. These two main effects have resulted in making railways more attractive to passengers, thereby increasing demand for rail, and shifting passengers to rail from competing modes.” However, the Study warns that “there are several challenges which impede reaching the full potential of competition”, which can be addressed by ensuring “easy access to all types of rolling stock…” and “equal access to ticket vending platforms for operators…”, as well as by “introducing track access charges rebates for operators in their first years of operations”. Regarding taxpayer-subsidised PSO contracts, the study shows that “where competent authorities have used competitive awards, they have consistently achieved a decrease in costs enabling improvements in the rail offer, notably as regards to service quality”. ALLRAIL’s Salim Benkirane says: “The evidence is clear — competition improves rail services for everyone. We must finally break down remaining barriers and fully open the rail market, to benefit passengers, taxpayers, and the environment alike”. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 1, 2024Oct 1 2 hours ago, KJP said: If your shipping company has trained crews, a freight train and some fuel, you can't just show up and the use a railroad rare company's right of way. This is how things are trending in Europe. Will it happen here? Should it happen here? Yes, I think so... I think there might a grammar error or missing negative in here (and/or maybe a switch between "freight" in your quote but "passenger" in your title?), but: If brought to the US, would that mean that a passenger rail startup could simply start operating on existing tracks between Cleveland and Cincinnati? If so, how would they deal with scheduling conflicts? And if the existing freight rail operators using (and IIRC owning) that line "outbid" the passenger operator for first dibs on scheduling, then how could the passenger operator ever commit to maintaining any particular schedule? Or is that not even what this kind of system would/could be for at all?
October 2, 2024Oct 2 Author Fixed it. In one possible scenario, a licensed passenger rail operator could secure an operating contract to use the existing tracks between Cleveland and Cincinnati. But I doubt they would until the tracks are upgraded to passenger train standards, capacities and speeds -- to be determined by a operational simulation, as is done now. The passenger train operator could upgrade the tracks themselves with public or private financing. Or the right-of-way agency could fund the capital improvements by using the first 5-15 years of user fees to fund the non-federal share of a grant to upgrade the infrastructure. I would use the existing hierarchy of operations that guides train dispatching decision-making and computer programming. This ranges from the top end of the food chain to the bottom -- from disaster-relief/evacuation operations and short-distance express passenger services at the high end to light-engine and non-emergency deadhead rolling-stock moves at the other. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 2, 2024Oct 2 On 10/1/2024 at 7:05 AM, KJP said: If your shipping company has trained crews, a freight train and some fuel, you can't just show up and the use an American railroad company's right of way. Yet, this is how things are trending in Europe. Will it happen here? Should it happen here? Yes, I think so... PRESS RELEASE New European Commission Study Confirms The Benefits Of Competition In Passenger Rail In the US, most trackage is owned and maintained (or not) by private freight companies. But who owns and maintains the track in the EU? And who should own and maintain the track in the US?
October 2, 2024Oct 2 Author 44 minutes ago, Foraker said: In the US, most trackage is owned and maintained (or not) by private freight companies. But who owns and maintains the track in the EU? And who should own and maintain the track in the US? The EU has been liberalizing its rail system in stages to increase competition, improve efficiency, and reduce costs: Rail freight Since 2007, any licensed EU railway company can apply for capacity and offer rail freight services throughout the EU. The EU Commission says that liberalization has led to lower prices, more services, and better quality. International rail passenger services Since 2010, any licensed EU rail company can offer international passenger services. Domestic rail passenger services The EU has proposed opening this market to EU-wide competition. The fourth railway package, approved in 2016, set a target of liberalizing passenger rail transport on December 14, 2020. This is taking longer than expected and varies from country to country. France and Spain have advanced the liberalization of freight and high-speed services but local/regional commuter rail is taking longer... https://www.groupe-sncf.com/en/group/strategy/market-liberalization https://railmarket.com/news/passenger-rail/22137-liberalisation-of-spain-s-passenger-rail-services-who-is-in-the-game In Germany, Deutsche Bahn, a government corporation, operates freight and passenger services, owns infrastructure and basically does everything rail in Germany. I haven't heard any progress reports there but it sounds like things are taking even longer in Germany. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 3, 2024Oct 3 Author Infrastructure-wise, yes. Transportation companies-wise, it's a return to competition. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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