User Charges for Railway Infrastructure: French experience

Now that railway infrastructure and train operations have been separated in Europe -- at least for accounting purposes -- user charges for infrastructure are progressively being introduced to cover the costs of running trains. However, because of the lack of experience in this field, it is difficult to set the amount and choose the most appropriate form for these charges. There are in fact major differences between countries, and the objectives are many and sometimes conflicting. This chapter aims to highlight the French experience.