The separation of infrastructure management from operations is central to efforts under way to reform European railways. But why does Europe favour such separation? What are the expected consequences? What does it mean in practice? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What risks are...

The reform of European railroads is a time-consuming process strongly charac-terized by its path-dependency. Firstly, a short outline of the historical roots of the controversial debates on the role of the state and the markets, and the organi-zation of competition in European railroad...