Evaluation of Rail Infrastructure Investments Related to the New Rail Regulatory Environment in Some Countries
As for any transportation infrastructure project, rail investment projects are subject to appraisals, which traditionally include an economic evaluation to determine public benefits and a financial analysis to determine the purely financial returns. When the company that owns and manages the rail infrastructure, termed the “infrastructure manager,” is legally different from the company that provides the rail service, appraisals are typically carried out separately for the infrastructure manager and the train operator. The appraisal process is different from the process when the same legal entity owns and manages both infrastructure and train operations. The distinction is especially pertinent for European Union member states. This study proposed a comprehensive methodology for rail investment project appraisal for the case of rail infrastructure and train operations that were owned and managed by separate legal entities. The study defined the socioeconomic viability of a project from the infrastructure manager's perspective, which reflected social welfare, as well as the financial viability of the project from the perspectives of the infrastructure manager and the operator. It was recognized that a project would proceed only if the socioeconomic evaluation were positive. In the case of a negative financial appraisal, which was often the case for low-volume rail links, the study demonstrated how the use of subsidies could render the rail investment financially viable. The methodology was applied for a proposed investment in the western extensions of the railway network of Greece project.
A methodological framework for quantifying impacts of truck traffic on regional network with implications to transport policy
A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTIFYING IMPACTS OF TRUCK TRAFFIC ON REGIONAL NETWORK WITH IMPLICATIONS TO TRANSPORT POLICY by Chaitanya N Pathak Increased global trade has promoted the importance of shipping industry and the introduction of mega-ships has created an opportunity to be more cost-effective. Because of this, the expected change in freight transportation influences the operating regimes and schedules at the port terminals. Trucks being the predominant mode of transportation used to carry the freight transport, there is a growing concern about the impact of trucks in the region. The problems are further expected to grow as the improvements to resolve them are hindered by funding shortfalls. Public agencies are therefore involved in developing comprehensive state freight plans that outline immediate and long-range plans for freightrelated transportation improvements. However, for states to develop and implement investment policies that can adequately address challenges, there is a need for a policy framework that can evaluate the impact of freight. The lack of the framework makes it difficult for state/metropolitan planning organizations to implement investment strategies in the best possible way. The proposed framework in the dissertation tries to fill the gap by developing a methodological framework, which can help agencies to evaluate multiple policies and their impact on local communities. Additionally, the framework can ascertain the magnitude of impacts that the infrastructure or policy in conjunction with the change in truck traffic might have on a regional level. The developed framework thus can help decision makers to prioritize policies that will benefit both public and freight transportation needs. Three demand models are used in the framework, which is built on the principle of behavioral route choice and mode-choice assignment problem. The outputs from the demand models are further used to quantify the impact in terms of cost-benefit analysis. The dissertation includes a real-world case study demonstrating how the framework can be used to evaluate alternative policies and its impact on a regional level. To this end, the developed framework in the dissertation addresses the research questions to present stakeholder’s complex implications that policy can have on the region. It also answers the question of how much the change in truck demand affects the region regarding monetary costs such as safety, congestion, environment, and pavement damage. The research further provides an insight of the change in travel behavior as a result of policy decision and its effect on communities. A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTIFYING IMPACTS OF TRUCK TRAFFIC ON REGIONAL NETWORK WITH IMPLICATIONS TO TRANSPORT POLICY by Chaitanya N Pathak A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering John A. Reif, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Testing for Economies of Scope in European Railways: An Efficiency Analysis
In this paper, we conduct a pan-European efficiency analysis to investigate the performance of European railways with a particular focus on economies of vertical integration. We test the hypothesis that integrated railways realise economies of scope and, thus, produce railway services with a higher level of efficiency. To determine whether joint or separate production is more efficient, we apply a data envelopment analysis super-efficiency bootstrapping model which relates the efficiency for integrated production to a reference set consisting of separated firms which use a different production technology. We find that for a majority of European railways, economies of scope exist. © 2009 LSE and the University of Bath