Mass transport services: successful or still threatened by competition?

Raising awareness about the importance of passenger rail transport has resulted in a progress generated by rail companies and authorities with the purpose of providing more efficient services. Thus, several types of rail passenger transport have been developed which, either nationally or locally, have been successful and they are still holding position or are confronted with air or road competitors. All these represent challenges for operators, authorities and customers. This is the environment where high-speed transport services, express conventional services, inter-regional and local services, as well as commuters services developed and managed to meet mobility demands.
High-speed railways is a success in the rail sector and industry, with growing traffic figures to the detriment of air and road transport, especially on shorter distances. In some cases, the high-speed traffic growth has reshaped the decline of conventional traffic. For example, France has developed a 1.893 -km long high-speed network, with four main routes in Paris, while other lines, including regional lines, are either under development or scheduled for construction, all these lines forming a network with multiple connection possibilities. The impact of the first TGV line, the TGV line South East, connecting Paris to Lyon, has been carefully studied.
In the business sector, express services on conventional lines face the competition of domestic air services and private motorised transport which remains the main competitor for medium-distance journeys, but low-cost air services become important on long distances. Also, the development of the road network and the increasing life quality favour the acquisition of individual vehicles, which triggers the decline of the business sector related to the rail express transport services. As new member states develop their road network, the number of car owners is growing and air companies have access to an attractive market, the market share of rail transport could know a constant decrease. Conversely, this decline becomes a major challenge and the impact of market opening on this decline tendency will be an important element in estimating the rail passenger transport market. In some countries where high-speed transport is a fact, conventional transport services have a secondary importance and face uncertainty (for example in France, where TGV transport services are intensively promoted). In other countries (Austria, for example) conventional transport services maintain their position. By contrast with other types of services, rail commuters services are holding a strong position in agglomerated urban areas, where, next to the underground system, become the only trustworthy mobility means for he daily passenger flow demanding transport to commercial areas. Consequently, from the economic and political point of view, reducing the frequency of these services, despite the high level of public subsidies, is out of the question. Conversely, the accent falls on reducing costs by tendering public service obligations.
Main challenges are of a commercial and technical nature: increasing the financial value, improving services for users and, sometimes, facing the growing demand. A problem of a particular nature is the fact that
interested parties have to cope with the number of passengers which is strictly related to the national economic situation: in economic growth periods, the number of passengers knows a rapid increase, while in recession periods, the passenger volume declines. Consequently, incomes are subject to a significant risk which has to be assumed by operator or promoter. This risk is related to the economic resilience and, therefore, it cannot be controlled by rail companies. Even in smaller urban areas, where the rail system is less dominant, especially when road networks are widely developed, and the rail transport is limited, local and even national support is strong in several states with a developed rail system. Germany is an example of investments in local networks.

by Pamela Luică


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