Competition and Markets Authority published a document consulting on the possibilities for greater competition between train operators in Great Britain’s passenger rail services.
Currently, the benefits of competition in passenger rail services are secured primarily by the competitive award of franchises. This franchising system – in essence, competition ‘for’ the market – was recently reformed and the process of competitive bidding for these franchises appears to be working well. There is, in addition, a degree of competition ‘in’ the market – so called ‘on-rail’ competition – where franchises overlap or face competition from approved ‘open access operators’.
It has also considered evidence from existing on-rail competition in the Great Britain passenger rail industry, the experience of European countries where there is competition between passenger rail operators, and other transport markets such as the Great Britain rail freight sector, air transport and airports. The CMA is also conscious of the need to protect funding for investment in the railways, including in current and future network infrastructure investment, and support for socially valuable services that are not commercially profitable. Some of this funding is derived from premiums paid by franchisees.
Photo: © Network Rail
Share on:
