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Marginal cost of railway infrastructure wear and tear for freight and passenger trains in Sweden

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  • Andersson, Mats

Abstract

We analyse maintenance cost data for Swedish railway infrastructure in relation to traffic volumes and network characteristics, and separate the cost impact from passenger and freight trains. Lines with mixed passenger and freight traffic, and dedicated freight lines are analysed separately using both log-linear and Box-Cox regression models. We find that for mixed lines, the Box-Cox specification is preferred, while a log-linear model is chosen in the case of dedicated freight lines. The cost elasticity with respect to output is found to be higher for passenger trains than for freight trains in the case of mixed lines. The cost elasticity for freight trains on dedicated lines is higher than for freight trains on mixed lines. From a marginal cost pricing perspective, freight trains on mixed lines are currently over-charged, while passenger trains on mixed lines and freight trains on dedicated lines are under-charged.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersson, Mats, 2011. "Marginal cost of railway infrastructure wear and tear for freight and passenger trains in Sweden," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 48, pages 3-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:sot:journl:y:2011:i:48:p:3-23
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10077/6176
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Odolinski, Kristofer & Boysen, Hans E., 2018. "Railway line capacity utilisation and its impact on maintenance costs," Working papers in Transport Economics 2018:10, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI), revised 30 Oct 2018.
    2. Odolinski, Kristofer & Nilsson, Jan-Eric, 2017. "Estimating the marginal maintenance cost of rail infrastructure usage in Sweden; does more data make a difference?," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 10(C), pages 8-17.
    3. Talebian, Ahmadreza & Zou, Bo & Peivandi, Ahmad, 2018. "Capacity allocation in vertically integrated rail systems: A bargaining approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 167-191.
    4. Bugarinovic, Mirjana & Boskovic, Branislav, 2015. "A systems approach to access charges in unbundling railways," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 848-860.
    5. Odolinski, Kristofer & Nilsson, Jan-Eric, 2016. "Estimating the marginal maintenance cost of rail infrastructure usage in Sweden; does more data make a difference?," Working papers in Transport Economics 2016:27, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI), revised 13 May 2017.
    6. Andersson, Mats & Björklund, Gunilla, 2012. "Marginal railway track renewal costs: a survival data approach," Working papers in Transport Economics 2012:29, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    7. Andersson, Mats & Björklund, Gunilla & Haraldsson, Mattias, 2016. "Marginal railway track renewal costs: A survival data approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 68-77.

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