Rail track charges in Great Britain--the issue of charging for capacity

Separation of infrastructure from operations in rail transport raises the issue of what should be the structure and level of charges for infrastructure use. This paper outlines the solution adopted in Britain, and how it has developed. It concludes that the principle defect in the current system is the lack of any charge to reflect scarce capacity. A way of measuring the capacity requirements of different types of train and of identifying their opportunity cost is put forward, but it is recognised that reflecting this in the charges would be complex.