IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sgh/gosnar/y2023i4p30-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Study of the Efficiency of Regional Railway Services: The Case of Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Michał Zajfert

Abstract

Regional railway transport is an alternative to individual transport that contributes to a reduction in external costs and is considered a public service obligation (PSO). A common way to measure the efficiency of regional railway transport is compensation for operational performance in train-kilometres. However, this metric does not accurately reflect the true efficiency of this kind of transport as it overlooks the main objective of engaging public funds. The goal is not merely to operate trains at the lowest possible cost, but rather to provide maximum societal benefits. Our analysis revealed a significant challenge in determining the actual efficiency of regional railway services. The nationwide railway company appears to employ cross-subsidisation of services to generate abnormal profits, thereby reducing its expectations in the face of potential competition and artificially improving its efficiency in areas where there is real competition. The current organisation of regional railway transport makes it difficult to assess its efficiency and, consequently, to select the optimal operator in economic terms.

Suggested Citation

  • Michał Zajfert, 2023. "A Study of the Efficiency of Regional Railway Services: The Case of Poland," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 30-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:sgh:gosnar:y:2023:i:4:p:30-53
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://gnpje.sgh.waw.pl/pdf-174499-98333
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lawrence W. Lan & Erwin T. J. Lin, 2006. "Performance Measurement for Railway Transport: Stochastic Distance Functions with Inefficiency and Ineffectiveness Effects," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 40(3), pages 383-408, September.
    2. Zhaoqiong Qin, 2008. "Improving public transit access to in-city villages," International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(2), pages 141-152.
    3. R W Vickerman, 1974. "Accessibility, Attraction, and Potential: A Review of Some Concepts and Their Use in Determining Mobility," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 6(6), pages 675-691, December.
    4. King, David & Manville, Michael & Shoup, Donald, 2007. "The political calculus of congestion pricing," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9js9z8gz, University of California Transportation Center.
    5. Dea van Lierop & Madhav G. Badami & Ahmed M. El-Geneidy, 2018. "What influences satisfaction and loyalty in public transport? A review of the literature," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 52-72, January.
    6. Kenyon, Susan, 2011. "Transport and social exclusion: access to higher education in the UK policy context," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 763-771.
    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. Tarduno, Matthew, 2021. "The congestion costs of Uber and Lyft," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    2. Xuan Phuong Nguyen, 2019. "The Bus Transportation Issue And People Satisfaction With Public Transport In Ho Chi Minh City ," Journal of Mechanical Engineering Research & Developments (JMERD), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 42(1), pages 10-16, January.
    3. Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa & Szumilo, Nikodem & Vernet, Antoine, 2024. "Startup stations: the impact of rail access on entrepreneurship (self-employment) in England and Wales," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124680, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Mengying Cui & David Levinson, 2018. "Accessibility analysis of risk severity," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1029-1050, July.
    5. Vieira, Renato & Haddad, Eduardo, 2012. "An Accessibility Index for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo," TD NEREUS 15-2012, Núcleo de Economia Regional e Urbana da Universidade de São Paulo (NEREUS).
    6. Ali Kabasakal & Aziz Kutlar & Murat Sarikaya, 2015. "Efficiency determinations of the worldwide railway companies via DEA and contributions of the outputs to the efficiency and TFP by panel regression," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 23(1), pages 69-88, March.
    7. J W Weibull, 1980. "On the Numerical Measurement of Accessibility," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 12(1), pages 53-67, January.
    8. Pooler, James A., 1995. "The use of spatial separation in the measurement of transportation accessibility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 421-427, November.
    9. Ricardo S. Martins & Mauro Borges Lemos, 2006. "Corredor Centro-Leste: Sistemas De Transporte De Minas Gerais Na Perspectivas Dos Eixos De Desenvolvimento E Integração," Anais do XII Semin·rio sobre a Economia Mineira [Proceedings of the 12th Seminar on the Economy of Minas Gerais], in: João Antonio de Paula & et alli (ed.),Anais do XII Seminário sobre a Economia Mineira [Proceedings of the 12th Seminar on the Economy of Minas Gerais], Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    10. Vonk Noordegraaf, Diana & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2014. "Policy implementation lessons from six road pricing cases," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 172-191.
    11. Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu & Aurélie Mercier, 2013. "A combined people-freight accessibility approach for urban retailing and leisure planning at strategic level," Post-Print halshs-00919537, HAL.
    12. Weckström, Christoffer & Mladenović, Miloš N. & Kujala, Rainer & Saramäki, Jari, 2021. "Navigability assessment of large-scale redesigns in nine public transport networks: Open timetable data approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 212-229.
    13. Aurélie Mercier & Stéphanie Souche‐Le Corvec & Nicolas Ovtracht, 2021. "Measure of accessibility to postal services in France: A potential spatial accessibility approach applied in an urban region," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 227-249, February.
    14. Dong, Xiaojing & Ben-Akiva, Moshe E. & Bowman, John L. & Walker, Joan L., 2006. "Moving from trip-based to activity-based measures of accessibility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 163-180, February.
    15. Nguyen-Phuoc, Duy Quy & Vo, Nguyen S. & Su, Diep Ngoc & Nguyen, Vinh Hoang & Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar, 2021. "What makes passengers continue using and talking positively about ride-hailing services? The role of the booking app and post-booking service quality," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 367-384.
    16. Esmailpour, Javad & Aghabayk, Kayvan & Aghajanzadeh, Mohammad & De Gruyter, Chris, 2022. "Has COVID-19 changed our loyalty towards public transport? Understanding the moderating role of the pandemic in the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 80-103.
    17. Pierre Pestieau, 2009. "Assessing The Performance Of The Public Sector," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(1), pages 133-161, March.
    18. Luz, Gregório & Barboza, Matheus H.C. & Portugal, Licinio & Giannotti, Mariana & van Wee, Bert, 2022. "Does better accessibility help to reduce social exclusion? Evidence from the city of São Paulo, Brazil," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 186-217.
    19. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    20. Hasnine, Md Sami & Graovac, Ana & Camargo, Felipe & Habib, Khandker Nurul, 2019. "A random utility maximization (RUM) based measure of accessibility to transit: Accurate capturing of the first-mile issue in urban transit," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 313-320.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    public transport; regional transport; railway transport; public service obligation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

    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:sgh:gosnar:y:2023:i:4:p:30-53. 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: Grzegorz Konat (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sgwawpl.html .

    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.