合资铁路重组背景下省级铁路平台可持续发展对策

在铁路行业高度垄断,铁路运营普遍效益欠佳和地方政府财力有限的现实环境下,特别是国铁集团近年来大力推行“一省一公司”合资铁路重组整合的改革,对省级铁路平台的发展带来了新的巨大的问题挑战,本文结合当前在全国大力推行的合资铁路重组改革的背景,分析了省级铁路平台在改革中将面临的重大问题,包括既有投融资能力难以支撑大规模规划项目建设、已建铁路运营大规模亏损、铁路行业建设运营高度垄断严重以及铁路土地综合开发进展迟缓等一系列问题,并针对以上问题提出相关的对策建议。     

Are railways really that bad? An evaluation of rail systems performance in Europe with a focus on passenger rail

With a large number of railway development projects in Europe and worldwide, which once completed will be serving rail passengers of the future, this paper aims to take a step back and evaluate current railway systems performance. The objectives are to compare statistical data on various passenger-related parameters of the railway system in a number of selected European countries and draw conclusions on the level of their performance when compared to the European average.Analyses of publically available statistical data, extracted from the Eurostat service at a European level will allow for a comparison of various indicators which influence the performance of the railway systems from an infrastructure and operational perspectives. The analyses will also allow identifying key performance indicators for the accurate assessment of the rail systems.The paper will highlight case studies for various parameters which are important to stakeholders of the railways, including infrastructure managers, rail operators, policy makers and the end users. This knowledge will be to the benefit of today’s railway industry as well as the rail systems of the future, as it will show trends drew upon existing data which might continue in the future.     

Much Ado about Nothing? - An analysis of economic impacts and ecologic effects of the EU-emission trading scheme in the aviation industry

From 2012 on, all CO₂ emissions from flights departing from or arriving at airports within the European Union have to be offset. We analyze the economic and ecological impacts that are caused by an inclusion of the aviation industry into the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS). Building on the now fixed system design we employ a simulation model to estimate the impacts of the scheme. Our results indicate that financial impacts are highly dependant on external settings, such as allowance prices and demand growth. We show that the financial burden on the aviation industry will be rather modest in the first years after the introduction of the system and therefore induce only low competition distortions. Likewise, emission reductions within air transportation will be comparably low. While aviation will induce a decline of emissions in other sectors, significant absolute reductions within air transportation can only be reached by a more restrictive system design.     

Competition policy and the liberalisation of European aviation

The European aviation industry is undergoing a process of liberalisation. One of the important lessons of American deregulation was that the industry is not perfectly contestable. One implication of this is that actual competition on a route is important in order to be able to secure the benefits of deregulation or liberalisation. Another is that effective competition policy is important in order to prevent anti-competitive mergers or predatory behaviour. This paper reviews the merger investigations in European aviation which have accompanied the search by carriers to secure the benefits of market power, and considers the extent of route competition within the European Community and its relationship to the different route licensing policies of different national governments. The paper considers the extent of present competition on the busiest routes, and stresses the importance of cabotage rights in opening up the European market to effective competition.     

The Benefits for Rail Freight Customers of Vertical Separation and Open Access

Abstract

This paper reviews and analyses the benefits for rail freight customers of the two principal models for introducing competition in main line railway networks: (1) the vertical separation of infrastructure from operations; and (2) the introduction of competition providing other operators with open access to the network. The paper shows that traffic growth has generally been higher in those European countries that have liberalized most. It then examines in detail the impact of restructuring in Great Britain in terms of the competition, freight rates and traffic growth. The paper concludes that vertical separation benefits freight customers more than just open access.     

Rail track infrastructure ownership: investment and operational issues

As privatisation of railway systems reach the political agendas in a number of countries, the separation of track infrastructure from train operations is seen as providing the vehicle which will improve profitability within the rail industry. This paper deals with three main issues related to such separation within a freight railway focus, namely: investment appraisal; track standards and maintenance; and train operating performance. The conflicts of interest between the owners of track and their client operators are discussed in detail. Costs related to track capacity and congestion need to be taken into account, given that additional trains are likely to lead to increased risk of delays to existing services. The paper discusses the use of a travel time reliability model to estimate the additional costs imposed on the system through the introduction of specific train services.It is concluded that investment in individual elements of railway infrastructure must be integrated with the overall financial and customer service strategies of both operators and owners. As an alternative to current practices, a hybrid model of track ownership is put forward here. Under such a model, a joint-venture company with equity from the main ÒplayersÓ would be owner of track. This would allow some of the benefits of vertical integration to be retained, whilst providing fair access to new operators.     

Regulation and efficiency: the case of European railways

During the long period of regulation of the railway system in Europe (1950s–1990s) the companies notably improved their levels of productivity. However, parallel to this, the state of their financial accounts also significantly worsened. In order to explain this fact we have estimated both cost and revenue frontier functions, calculating the losses associated with both cost and revenue inefficiencies as well as inefficiencies on the cost side. The results obtained show the existence of significant potential losses of revenue, which can be explained above all by the strong policy of regulation and intervention reigning in this period. A better commercial policy and a supply adapted to market conditions seem to be two unavoidable requisites for the future of European rail policy if the companies' financial burdens are to be reduced.     

An Institutional Analysis of Coordination in Liberalized Port-related Railway Chains: An Application to the Port of Rotterdam

Abstract

The European railway market has gone through a period of liberalization over the last two decades. The liberalization of the railway market has also affected port-related railway transport. Efficient port-related transport chains are key in the competition among ports, however providing this efficiency is to a large extent a coordination challenge. Many forms of coordination are needed to ensure that the railway chain operates efficiently, including the bundling of cargo, and good organization between railway companies, terminal operators and the infrastructure managers to realize an efficient use of assets. From the literature, it appears that less attention has been paid to the economic organization of port-related railway transport in general, and specifically in the new liberalized institutional environment. The goal of this paper is to come up with a framework to better understand the issue of coordination in port-related railway chains in a liberalized institutional environment. This paper presents a conceptual framework rooted in Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). Based on an in-depth study into coordination in liberalized container railway market at the Port of Rotterdam, empirical illustrations are used to adjust the TCE approach toward a dynamic model influenced by Douglas North's theory on economic and institutional change. Empirics from the port of Rotterdam show that new players have entered the railway market and their role has changed. This paper shows that coordination of railway operations has become more complex after the regime change. From a port perspective, liberalization does not lead to an optimal allocation of resources in a process that is highly operationally interdependent. In the liberalized environment, coordination arrangements are necessary to enable efficient coordination of railway operations in Rotterdam.     

Competition in the UK passenger railway industry: Prospects and problems

The promotion of competition between passenger train operators was a key aim of the 1992- 97 Conservative Government when it privatized British Rail. Although the potential for competition in the market was constrained through regulation at the time of the sale, competition for the market became intense. Regulatory controls are now being relaxed and the promotion of competition remains central to the present Labour Government's rail strategy, particularly in the form of a redefined and reinvigorated franchising programme. It seems to be generally accepted in policy-making circles that it is both possible and desirable to encourage competition in the UK's railway industry on the grounds that it can further enhance service quality across the network. This paper highlights some qualifications to this position and suggests that, for various reasons, a strong policy emphasis on market liberalization may be impractical or unsuitable, at least in the short to medium term.     

The inclusion of aviation into the EU emission trading scheme – Impacts on competition between European and non-European network airlines

In 2008, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed on including international aviation in the already existing European Union carbon market. From 2012, allowances will be required for all international flights landing at and departing from any airport in the EU. Domestic aviation will be subject to the same rules as international air traffic. Model-based empirical estimations presented in this paper indicate a diverse set of effects influencing competition between European and non-European aircraft operators. Initially, this paper provides an overview on recent political developments on EU as well as on International Civil Aviation Organisation level on the subject of emissions trading and aviation. Subsequently, our modelling approach and the main results concerning impacts on operating costs, ticket prices and cargo rates for European and non-European aircraft operators are presented and discussed. Finally, conclusions about the impacts on competition between European and non-European airlines are drawn.     

Prospects for computer aided railway scheduling: perspectives from users and parallels from mass transit

Railway scheduling faces new challenges as competition and, in many parts of the world, privatisation require ever better results, both in terms of minimising the resources used and maximising the performance achieved by those resources. It is therefore surprising that in practice railway scheduling tasks appear to be performed largely without the use of optimizing models. This paper takes two different perspectives, a case study of user needs from the UK railway industry and a comparative analysis with mass transit scheduling systems, to consider why this might be and assesses what the future prospects are for computer aided railway scheduling.

A number of conclusions are drawn: that optimization models need to be integrated with software packages that meet schedulers' data management needs; that researchers need to work with commercial developers to achieve this integration; that there needs to be an emphasis on extending models to cover more real‐life circumstances; and that solutions with international applicability should be sought.     

Inland waterway transport in the federal Republic of Germany: Situation and problems

Inland waterway transport in the Federal Republic of Germany, interconnecting 54 out of the 80 big cities, is mainly structured into small-scale enterprises. Organisation of transport, however, is mainly accommodated by a few large shipping firms. The increasing interest in inland waterway transport is due to increasing infrastructural bottlenecks in rail and road transport caused by integration, whereas waterways still have high capacity reserves. Furthermore, they are environmentally beneficial. Future problems, on the one hand, will arise from fundamental market and relating changes inland waterway transport has to adapt to within the scope of transport chain optimisation. On the other hand, the abolishment of fare regulation and the commercialisation of the railway companies will change the internal and external competitive conditions. An additional problem arises from future competition of inland vessels from Eastern European countries.     

A Comment on ‘The Myth of Travel Time Saving’

Abstract

This paper reports on what appears to be the first attempt to map the perceived holistic dynamics at work in contemporary Brazilian railway development. The published perspectives of recognized experts in the Brazilian railway industry were mapped using the problem structuring methodology known as Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA). SODA is essentially a cognitive mapping approach and, in this case, it enabled a classification of the issues involved in railway development, as well as the detailed analysis of particular causes and effects acting upon the issues. Two particularly disturbing results are discussed in some length: the detrimental effects of the alleged misappropriations of public funds, and the identification of a degenerative feedback loop system at the heart of railway decision‐making. Overall, the paper shows that the situation faced by railway development in Brazil is constituted by a dynamic interaction of non‐independent problems, indicating the presence of a complex problem‐system requiring conceptual structure in a manner that permits analysis without ignoring systemic integrity. As such, the paper serves as a platform from which further use of SODA in this context might be considered as a decision support tool.     

Exploring the hidden potential of sugar beet industry brownfields (case study of the Czech Republic)

The paper focuses on spatial analyses of sugar beet industry brownfields in the Czech Republic. In the first part of the paper history of sugar beet industry on the area of the Czech Republic is briefly presented, then links between location of these sites and its transport potential are discussed. Benefits of brownfields regeneration for regional development are also evaluated. In the empirical part of the paper 49 brownfield sites within the Czech Republic, where the sugar beet industry was abandoned during the transition period after 1989, are evaluated and classified based on field research and aerial picture analyses. Three examples of reuse of former sugar beet factories are finally presented. It was found that development potential of studied sites is highly depended on their geographical location and some inspiration might be derived from presented examples. More targeted supportive policy in the Czech Republic to support regeneration of brownfields is needed. In the concluding part of the paper further development possibilities of sugar beet industry brownfields and their railway connection are considered.     

汽车客运站场规划布局探析

文章以公铁竞争为切入点,分析了汽车客运站场布局在公铁竞争中的地位和作用,阐述了汽车客运站场建设的规划布局要求,并探讨了搬迁城区汽车站做法的不合理性,提出了城市汽车客运站场的规划布局建议。     

Financial relations between European railways for their international services

The operations of European railway companies are generally confined to the territory of one country. Each company incurs the cost of operations on its network. For international trains there are systems of physical compensation for vehicles and staff operating outside their home network. Revenues either go direct to each company involved, or, in the case of through international rates, are apportioned according to distance. This situation implies that for any decision on price and services agreement of all operators involved is necessary. Also, the apportionment of costs between operators is not in line with real cost structure. With further integration in the European community, and freer movement between Eastern and Western Europe, international transport will become more important, and railways will be at a disadvantage compared with other modes that can operate international services throughout. An organisation is proposed and illustrated with some examples, wherein separate commercial units are formed responsible for running and marketing an international rail service. Track, vehicles, and staff of national railway companiew may be used as now, but at a price to be agreed, and without the need for physical compensation.     

Railway traffic disturbance management—An experimental analysis of disturbance complexity,management objectives and limitations in planning horizon

With the increasing traffic volumes in European railway networks and reports on capacity deficiencies that cause reliability problems, the need for efficient disturbance management becomes evident. This paper presents a heuristic approach for railway traffic re-scheduling during disturbances and a performance evaluation for various disturbance settings using data for a large part of the Swedish railway network that currently experiences capacity deficiencies. The significance of applying certain re-scheduling objectives and their correlation with performance measures are also investigated. The analysis shows e.g. that a minimisation of accumulated delays has a tendency to delay more trains than a minimisation of total final delay or total delay costs. An experimental study of how the choice of planning horizon in the re-scheduling process affects the network on longer-term is finally presented. The results indicate that solutions which are good on longer-term can be achieved despite the use of a limited planning horizon. A 60 min long planning horizon was sufficient for the scenarios in the experiments.     

Techniques for inserting additional trains into existing timetables

In this paper techniques for scheduling additional train services (SATS) are considered as is train scheduling involving general time window constraints, fixed operations, maintenance activities and periods of section unavailability. The SATS problem is important because additional services must often be given access to the railway and subsequently integrated into current timetables. The SATS problem therefore considers the competition for railway infrastructure between new services and existing services belonging to the same or different operators. The SATS problem is characterised as a hybrid job shop scheduling problem with time window constraints. To solve this problem constructive algorithm and meta-heuristic scheduling techniques that operate upon a disjunctive graph model of train operations are utilised. From numerical investigations the proposed framework and associated techniques are tested and shown to be effective.     

Migration of railway freight transport from command economy to market economy: The case of China

In recent years, Chinese railway freight transport has been facing great challenges from transport market reformation and economic expansion. Although the total volume of railway freight has been increasing, its market share has decreased greatly, especially at the beginning of migration from command economy to market economy. This paper considers four aspects believed to be responsible for the loss of the railway freight market share. First, we review the history and current situation of the Chinese railway freight transport and study the relationship between economic development and freight transport in China. Second, the causes resulting in the loss of the market share of railway freight are analysed in detail. Third, the current measures taken by Chinese Railways (CR) to restore its competitiveness are discussed. The effects of these measures on railway traffic volume, market share and productivity are also studied. Finally, the way forward for the future of CR is discussed. It is concluded that CR has not yet adapted sufficiently to new economic conditions, although in recent years progress has been made. Further reform will be needed.     

Appraisal of rail investment projects: recent British experience

There has long been conflict over the degree to which railways should follow commercial or social investment criteria. This paper outlines the components of a comprehensive social cost‐benefit analysis of railway investment, and then describes the current approach in Britain. British Rail investment proposals are subject to a purely financial appraisal, although in the subsidized sectors of the railway this is subject to the proviso that a ‘broadly comparable’ level of service should be maintained. Local authorities and private operators are able to apply for a central government grant towards the cost of schemes they sponsor. But grant is only payable in respect of external benefits—that is, benefits other than to public transport users. Sponsors are also expected to seek contributions from private developers wherever possible. The difficulties to which this approach leads are discussed, and illustrated with two case studies of actual schemes. In one, it appears that failing to consider disbenefits to bus operators (and in turn to users of bus services) could lead to investments being undertaken which are not justified. In the other, a scheme which yields a high Net Present Value could not go ahead, in the form that we evaluated, because there is no way of recouping enough of the user benefits as revenue. Both are examples of the sort of distorting effect on decision‐making the current regime may have.