This conference proceedings defines transport benchmarking, analyzes its usefulness to policy makers and discusses what lessons can be drawn at the national and international level for policy makers. The first part examines the different methodological aspects raised by benchmarking methods. The...

This report examines the form regulation should take in rail freight markets to promote efficiency in railways and the wider economy. It analyses issues of monopoly, scale economies, competition, mergers, ownership and the structure of the rail industry. Experience in North America, Australia,...

Some very large multinational transport and logistics firms have emerged to provide integrated transport services to shippers in the globalised economy. Do these firms escape regulatory oversight from national competition authorities because of their sheer scale? Do they pose additional threats...

This paper, prepared by the OECD and the Development Research Center under the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (DRC), discusses principles for reforming the Chinese railway, based on experience of rail reform in OECD countries. This paper draws on materials presented at a...

Does deregulation reduce rail safety? Many countries have envisaged or implemented pro-competitive regulatory reforms of their rail sectors. Concerns have been voiced regarding the impact of these reforms on rail safety performance, especially in cases of reforms that have privatised or...

Over the last few years, much progress has been made in developing rail charges to ensure non-discriminatory access to, and efficient use of national rail networks. But in Europe the international dimension is still missing, particularly in terms of the freight market. Integration of European...

Competitive tendering provides a way to introduce competition to railways whilst preserving an integrated network of services. It has been used for freight railways in some countries but is particularly attractive for passenger networks when subsidised services make competition between trains...