Foreign experiences with rail governance

The Fyra parliamentary enquiry committee drew a number of major conclusions in its report De reiziger in de kou. It pointed at the unclear relationship between the State and the Dutch railways (NS) and at the absence of a clear vision on the future of railway governance in the Netherlands. The committee recommended an early start with preparing decisions pertaining to rail governance, as well as the development of a number of logical and consistent scenarios. The Dutch government accepted these recommendations and asked to research four main scenarios for rail governance after 2024. This would have to lead to recommendations on the best ways to realise the public interest of good and affordable train services, while looking at the type and extent of competition needed.

The State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment delivered on 7 April 2017 the resulting report ‘Kiezen voor een goed spoor’ – scenario’s voor ordening en sturing op het spoor na 2024 to Parliament. The report was realised under the leadership of Mr. Van der Vlist (ABDTOP-consultant at Ministry of Internal Affairs) and Mr. Van den Berg (Councilor at the Council of State of the Netherlands) following an order from the ministries of finance, economic affairs, and infrastructure and the environment.

inno-V had the honour to realise one of the background studies to that report. In its report Buitenlandse ervaringen overheidssturing op het spoor inno-V answered the following questions:

• Main question: How do foreign authorities steer their railway sector? (including the position of stations) and what conclusions can be drawn for the Netherlands?
• Which authority actors play an active role in this steering relationship in the countries to be studies? What about the railway stations?
• (a) What are the exact roles of the actors involved and (b) how does this work in practice?
• How does this translate into the reaching of short term and long term policy aims for rail passenger transport?
• What lessons can be drawn for the Netherlands in relation to the scenarios that have to be studied?

inno-V’s report shows how foreign authorities steer the railway sector, reviewing the examples of Germany, Great Britain (with particular attention to the London area), Sweden and Switzerland, and also what kind of search path preceded the current regime. The report shows that several regimes are workable but that a number of issues are crucial for success, such as the realisation of incentive alignment between the components of the railway system, an adequate positioning of system responsibility and the availability of good steering expertise.