Economic basis for the regulation of charges for the use of railway infrastructure

Abstract

The article reviews the regulation of the charges in the new Directive 2012/34/ EU, establishing a single European railway area. The analysis focuses on the elements of the charging framework targeted to cover infrastructure costs, and it does not deal with the treatment of externalities and incentives scheme. Therefore, after setting in context the relevance of the charging system as a source of signals for the behaviour of the infrastructure manager and operators, is presented a summary of the Directive’s objectives for the levying of a charging scheme for the use of infrastructure and reflects the content of the essential elements of the Directive. The central part of the article reviews the foundation of economic theory to be taken into account in determining an efficient charging system -and its limitations- relating them to the content of the Directive. Finally, it is provided some conclusions which systematically collect input from the two items revised: Directive and economic base, which could be used as basic criteria in the construction of a charging scheme for the use of the railway infrastructure in Spain.