Liberalising Rail Freight Movement in the EU

Liberalising Rail Freight Movement in the EU PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. European Union Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104006269
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Despite a decline in traditional rail freight markets (especially coal and steel), and loss of market share to other modes, the overall growth in freight in recent years has allowed rail freight to maintain its volume. The Commission has introduced three packages of directives to stimulate further growth in this market (the first should have been implemented in the 15 member states, the second is to be implemented by 2005, and the third is yet to be adopted). This report reviews the background to the packages, and offers a provisional analysis of their effect so far. The quality of service offered to customers of rail freight movement in Europe falls seriously short of standards required in a competitive environment. Liberalisation of the UK market since 1994 has, however, resulted in better performance and a growing market share for rail freight. The Committee has reservations about some parts of the third package of directives, particularly the proposal to require all train drivers to hold an international rail driving licence, and the proposal for compulsory compensation to rail freight customers for poor quality service. The report also examines problems with the Channel Tunnel, the only direct rail link between the UK and mainland Europe.

Liberalising Rail Freight Movement in the EU

Liberalising Rail Freight Movement in the EU PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. European Union Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104006269
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Despite a decline in traditional rail freight markets (especially coal and steel), and loss of market share to other modes, the overall growth in freight in recent years has allowed rail freight to maintain its volume. The Commission has introduced three packages of directives to stimulate further growth in this market (the first should have been implemented in the 15 member states, the second is to be implemented by 2005, and the third is yet to be adopted). This report reviews the background to the packages, and offers a provisional analysis of their effect so far. The quality of service offered to customers of rail freight movement in Europe falls seriously short of standards required in a competitive environment. Liberalisation of the UK market since 1994 has, however, resulted in better performance and a growing market share for rail freight. The Committee has reservations about some parts of the third package of directives, particularly the proposal to require all train drivers to hold an international rail driving licence, and the proposal for compulsory compensation to rail freight customers for poor quality service. The report also examines problems with the Channel Tunnel, the only direct rail link between the UK and mainland Europe.

Shared mobility and MaaS

Shared mobility and MaaS PDF Author: Yves Crozet
Publisher: Centre on Regulation in Europe asbl (CERRE)
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
This CERRE report finds that to effectively reduce congestion and pollution in cities, policies should focus primarily on the rarest resource: space. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) also has a role to play in the transition towards truly sustainable mobility. But this is provided regulation guarantees that new mobility models complement and not substitute for public transport. European cities have been trying to enhance their mobility and transport systems, while reducing congestion, pollution, CO2 emissions, noise and accidents. Local transport policies across countries strive to encourage car drivers to switch to public transport, but with limited success. The authors of the report find that the lack of success of policies to encourage the switch to public transport is often due to the alleged trouble of using other transportation modes compared to the convenience of private cars. “If cities are to effectively reduce congestion and pollution, regulation of access to cities must change dramatically. Until now, the constraints on the use of cars have largely remained low”, explain the authors. “An approach promising individual time savings will not benefit the collective interest. To be efficient, policies should focus primarily on the rarest resource for the community: space. Transport authorities must intervene on the uses of roads, sidewalks and pedestrian zones. It is up to them to define the balance between the different uses of roads”. In addition, public authorities should significantly develop public transport systems that constitute a genuine, practical, fast, reliable, and affordable alternative. The lack of public transport in areas of disperse and low demand due to financial reasons also remains a critical issue to be addressed. The CERRE report also finds that new mobility services (such as shared cars or free-floating e-scooters) provide unprecedented opportunities to reduce the disutility users would face from simply switching from the private car to public or active transport. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) enables users to change their routines, discover the variety of mobility services available and to combine former and new mobility services. Shared mobility providers may complement public transport, especially by supplying first and last mile solutions, and by serving areas where public transport is not financially viable. However, unless ridesharing replaces solo trips by car at a large scale, the impacts on congestion, pollution and CO2 emissions are likely to be neutral at best. Urban mobility public authorities cannot neglect the opportunities brought by new mobility services. Public authorities have to be more ambitious. They have to enlarge their spectrum of mobility services that will, in a financially sustainable way, ease user life and foster alternatives to solo car use. But to effectively deal with new mobility services authorities must develop new skills in the data and platforms areas. Platforms, information services and ticketing are crucial to increase the number of users of urban mobility services. Although digitalisation cannot be considered a magic wand, it plays a critical role in achieving this transition to new mobility services. For MaaS to develop, Mobility data must be gathered under the umbrella of Metropolitan Transport Authorities, who are the only trusted party able to do so. “Policies for the use of roads should discourage the use of individual cars and incentivise ride sharing. As long as individual cars can move freely and on the same roads and use services in the same conditions as shared vehicles, it is unlikely that MaaS and shared mobility will be successful. In addition, public authorities need to modernise and grasps the opportunities that digitisation and data offer for the transition to a truly sustainable mobility”, conclude the authors.

The Liberalization of Transportation Services in the EU and Turkey

The Liberalization of Transportation Services in the EU and Turkey PDF Author: Sübidey Togan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191067717
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Transport costs have been, and still are, an important component of trade costs, which are one the major determinants of the volume of trade, and thus of gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP growth. Studies show that two of the main determinants of transport costs are regulatory frameworks in transport sectors and transport infrastructure. The productivity and competitiveness of goods and services firms depends largely on access to low-cost and high-quality transport services, and those services have a powerful influence on economic growth. Countries commit themselves to increasing the efficiency of transport services, which can largely be achieved through increased competition and hence through liberalization of transport sectors. Since barriers to trade in transport services are typically regulatory in nature, this book provides a thorough discussion of international, regional, and country specific rules and regulations in those sectors. Concentrating on the EU, and Turkey in particular, it considers rules and regulations in transport sectors. It shows that economic liberalization pursued unilaterally, multilaterally, or regionally has beneficial effects for Turkey, and that the benefits from such liberalization are substantial. Furthermore, the volume shows that transport infrastructure is an important determinant of exports, and hence GDP and GDP growth.

EU Railway Policy-Making

EU Railway Policy-Making PDF Author: H. Dyrhauge
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137274492
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Through policy and intervention national governments in Europe have long held an active interest in railways, an interest that has transferred to the supranational level via the EU commission. This book explores why the EU Commission has been so slow in creating an EU railway policy, pointing the finger at strong resistance by national governments

Competition in the Railway Industry

Competition in the Railway Industry PDF Author: José A. Gómez-Ibáñez
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1847202942
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Numerous countries have attempted to improve the performance of their railways by introducing more competition, but there is fierce debate and no consensus on how this is best achieved. This book reveals how railways were an obvious target for reform because they were often losing traffic and money, and because the government was typically deeply involved as either owner or regulator.

Handbook on Railway Regulation

Handbook on Railway Regulation PDF Author: Matthias Finger
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1789901782
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
Taking a global approach, this insightful Handbook brings together leading researchers to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in railway regulation with a particular focus on countries that rely heavily on railways for transportation links. The Handbook also considers the most pressing issues for those working in and with railway systems, and outlines future trends in the development of rail globally.

Panorama of Transport

Panorama of Transport PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789289448451
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
The third edition of this publication provides key data on all main modes of transport in the EU, including air, road, rail and inland waterway transport, as well as covering maritime transport for the first time. It provides information on the transport economy in term of quantities of freight and passengers moved and the vehicles and infrastructure used, and also sets this within the broader context of the economy, energy consumption and pollution, the environment and public health as a factor in our quality of life.

Track Access Charges in Freight Transport

Track Access Charges in Freight Transport PDF Author: Justina Hudenko
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527535746
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Given that there are still many unclear concepts, mutual contradictions and imperfections in methodologies used in the field of track access charging, this book acts as a communication tool for researchers, and discusses these charges with regard to rail freight competitiveness. It addresses four main topics: namely, the technical features of freight transportation and the costs incurred; the impact of incoherence and volatility of freight traffic volume; the market response to the track access charge level; and the influence of transport policy and state subsidies. The text will appeal to infrastructure managers around the world, especially those in networks where there is an intention either to facilitate the shift of freight to railways or to develop rail freight corridors. It illustrates that there are significant differences in the causation of costs on passenger and freight railways, and raises important questions that must be considered when communicating with consumers and the state.

Nature's Magic

Nature's Magic PDF Author: Peter Corning
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139442183
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
Nature's Magic presents a bold vision of the evolutionary process from the Big Bang to the 21st century. Synergy of various kinds is not only a ubiquitous aspect of the natural world but it has also been a wellspring of creativity and the 'driver' of the broad evolutionary trend toward increased complexity, in nature and human societies alike. But in contrast with the many theories of emergence or complexity that rely on some underlying force or 'law', the 'Synergism Hypothesis', as Peter Corning calls it, is in essence an economic theory of biological complexity; it is fully consistent with mainstream evolutionary biology. Corning refers to it as Holistic Darwinism. Among the many important insights that are provided by this new paradigm, Corning presents a scenario in which the human species invented itself; synergistic, behavioral and technological innovations were the 'pacemakers' of our biological evolution. Synergy has also been the key to the evolution of complex modern societies, he concludes.

European Union Committee Annual Report 2005

European Union Committee Annual Report 2005 PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104008218
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Each year the Government deposits 1200 European policy documents for scrutiny, some of which are cleared straight away, whilst others are reserved for further scrutiny. These are normally considered by one of seven policy-based sub-committees and this report summarises the work undertaken by the Committee through its sub-committees. also reports on UK's Presidency of the EU and looks ahead to likely developments in 2006.