IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v69y2018icp326-336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The development of international passenger rail services from 2007 to 2016: The case of Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • von Arx, Widar
  • Thao, Vu Thi
  • Wegelin, Philipp
  • Maarfield, Simon
  • Frölicher, Jonas

Abstract

Over the past twenty years, the European Union has been undertaking important rail reforms to boost the growth of rail traffic. Yet this is often presented in the literature as if the outcome of these reforms is rather modest. Drawing on a case study of Switzerland, this paper aims to look more closely at this discourse by examining the ways in which international passenger rail services (IPRS) are organized, how they perform and what factors influence their performance. Our findings stress that the development of IPRS has been somewhat more positive. Overall, service quality has increased, with more direct connections increasing their frequencies and shortening travel times, and night trains to southern and eastern Europe still being maintained. Nonetheless, IPRS are still not exploiting the full potential of the market due to a lack of market attractiveness, inconsistent service quality, high production costs, complexity, uncertainty and risks. IPRS are basically operated in accordance with three business models: the cooperative production model, the joint venture model, and the intramodal competition model. Our paper also suggests that the characteristics of these business models may have different degrees of impact on the development of IPRS.

Suggested Citation

  • von Arx, Widar & Thao, Vu Thi & Wegelin, Philipp & Maarfield, Simon & Frölicher, Jonas, 2018. "The development of international passenger rail services from 2007 to 2016: The case of Switzerland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 326-336.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:69:y:2018:i:c:p:326-336
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2018.07.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885917303888
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2018.07.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dobruszkes, Frédéric, 2011. "High-speed rail and air transport competition in Western Europe: A supply-oriented perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 870-879, November.
    2. Beria, Paolo & Quinet, Emile & de Rus, Gines & Schulz, Carola, 2012. "A comparison of rail liberalisation levels across four European countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 110-120.
    3. Desmaris, Christian, 2014. "The reform of passenger rail in Switzerland: More performance without competition," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 290-297.
    4. Friebel, Guido & Ivaldi, Marc & Pouyet, Jérôme, 2011. "Competition and Industry Structure for International Rail Transportation," IDEI Working Papers 680, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse, revised 07 Jun 2012.
    5. Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Anming, 2012. "Effects of high-speed rail and air transport competition on prices, profits and welfare," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1322-1333.
    6. Lalive, Rafael & Schmutzler, Armin, 2008. "Exploring the effects of competition for railway markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 443-458, March.
    7. Didier van de Velde, 2009. "Long-Distance Bus Services in Europe: Concessions or Free Market?," OECD/ITF Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion Papers 2009/21, OECD Publishing.
    8. Knorr, Andreas & Lueg-Arndt, Andreas, 2016. "Intercity bus deregulation in Germany – Intramodal and intermodal effects after two years," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 323-329.
    9. Alexandersson, Gunnar & Bondemark, Anders & Henriksson, Lars & Hultén, Staffan, 2018. "Coopetition between commercial and subsidized railway services – The case of the greater Stockholm region," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 349-359.
    10. Frédéric Dobruszkes, 2011. "High-speed rail and air transport competition in Western Europe: A supply-oriented perspective," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/96164, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    11. Behrens, Christiaan & Pels, Eric, 2012. "Intermodal competition in the London–Paris passenger market: High-Speed Rail and air transport," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 278-288.
    12. John Preston, 2009. "Competition for Long Distance Passenger Rail Services: The Emerging Evidence," OECD/ITF Joint Transport Research Centre Discussion Papers 2009/23, OECD Publishing.
    13. Nash, Chris, 2010. "European rail reform and passenger services - the next steps," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 204-211.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Kun & Xia, Wenyi & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Qiong, 2018. "Effects of train speed on airline demand and price: Theory and empirical evidence from a natural experiment," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 99-130.
    2. D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Jiang, Changmin & Bracaglia, Valentina, 2016. "Air transport and high-speed rail competition: Environmental implications and mitigation strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 261-276.
    3. Tsunoda, Yushi, 2018. "Transportation policy for high-speed rail competing with airlines," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 350-360.
    4. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Dong, Kangyin & Wang, Kun, 2023. "How does high-speed rail affect tourism development? The case of the Sichuan-Chongqing Economic Circle," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. Jiang, Changmin & D'Alfonso, Tiziana & Wan, Yulai, 2017. "Air-rail cooperation: Partnership level, market structure and welfare implications," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 461-482.
    6. Xia, Wenyi & Zhang, Anming, 2016. "High-speed rail and air transport competition and cooperation: A vertical differentiation approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 456-481.
    7. Capozza, Claudia, 2015. "The effect of rail travel time on airline fares: first evidence from the Italian passenger market," Working Papers 15_3, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    8. Bergantino, Angela S. & Capozza, Claudia & Capurso, Mauro, 2015. "The impact of open access on intra- and inter-modal rail competition. A national level analysis in Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 77-86.
    9. Chen, Xiaoyan & Liu, Yisheng, 2020. "Visualization analysis of high-speed railway research based on CiteSpace," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1-17.
    10. Capozza, Claudia, 2016. "The effect of rail travel time on airline fares: First evidence from the Italian passenger market," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 18-24.
    11. D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Jiang, Changmin & Bracaglia, Valentina, 2015. "Would competition between air transport and high-speed rail benefit environment and social welfare?," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 118-137.
    12. Borsati, Mattia & Albalate, Daniel, 2020. "On the modal shift from motorway to high-speed rail: evidence from Italy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 145-164.
    13. Zhu, Feng & Wu, Xu & Cao, Chengxuan, 2021. "High-speed rail and air transport competition under high flight delay conditions in China: A case study of the Beijing-Shanghai corridor," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Asep Yayat Nurhidayat & Hera Widyastuti & Sutikno & Dwi Phalita Upahita, 2023. "Research on Passengers’ Preferences and Impact of High-Speed Rail on Air Transport Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Florent Laroche & Ayana Lamatkhanova, 2020. "Effects of open access competition on prices and frequencies on the interurban railway market: evidence from Europe," Working Papers halshs-02930864, HAL.
    16. Hong, Liu & Yan, Yongze & Ouyang, Min & Tian, Hui & He, Xiaozheng, 2017. "Vulnerability effects of passengers' intermodal transfer distance preference and subway expansion on complementary urban public transportation systems," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 58-72.
    17. Albalate, Daniel & Bel, Germà & Fageda, Xavier, 2015. "Competition and cooperation between high-speed rail and air transportation services in Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 166-174.
    18. Wang, Wei & Sun, Huijun & Wu, Jianjun, 2020. "How does the decision of high-speed rail operator affect social welfare? Considering competition between high-speed rail and air transport," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-15.
    19. Zhang, Qiong & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Qiang, 2017. "Impact of high-speed rail on China’s Big Three airlines," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 77-85.
    20. Bergantino, Angela S. & Capozza, Claudia & Capurso, Mauro, 2015. "The impact of open access on intra- and inter-modal rail competition. A national level analysis in Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 77-86.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International passenger rail services (IPRS); Night train; Competition; Business model; European market; Switzerland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:69:y:2018:i:c:p:326-336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.