A comparison of rail liberalisation levels across four European countries

This paper presents the results of a research into railway regulation and liberalisation in Italy, France, Germany and Spain. The analysis covers the relationship between the State and the rail companies, network access conditions by operators, slot allocating and pricing schemes and how public service obligations are defined, financed and regulated. The aim of the paper is to give a comparative overview of the regulation of railways. The regulatory frameworks are described and then assessed according to their implications on the degree of liberalisation and on their actual market opening. The conclusions are that the actual level of market opening is still limited and, only in some cases, is the liberalisation improving. Entry in the industry has not yet developed its full potential. An issue emerging in this research is the opposing attitude of incumbent railways against liberalisation and the role of governments in backing this behaviour.