European railway infrastructure: towards a convergence of infrastructure charging?

Abstract

Thirteen years ago, the European Directive 91/440 was implemented with the aim of increasing the efficiency of railway organisations throughout Europe. The main requirement of the Directive was to split transport operating from infrastructure management (at least in accounting terms). It also started the process of opening access for new operators; this is steadily being extended. Consequently, the issue of infrastructure charges is becoming more and more important. The paper underlines the fact that despite national differences, there are some signs of ways of convergence of infrastructure charges, due to the fact that the same key issue remains about infrastructure management: how to finance the renewal and development of infrastructure? So, among a wide range of objectives, some of them are becoming more and more crucial leading the principles of infrastructure charging to converge.