Railway System Economics

Railway system economics analyzes user needs and production costs, and describes the organization of components (infrastructure, rolling stock, stations, etc.) to provide recommendations for its proper administration. The needs of users are to move quickly and cheaply, but they are also shaped by the characteristics of each situation, the scarcity of urban space or the quality of the chain from the door of origin to the door of destination of the journey.

The economy of the rail system is also structured by the guided nature (due to the rails) of the mode, which reinforces the interdependence of its components and has led its managers to invent original tariff and non-tariff coordination methods. The presence of high fixed costs also makes this a mode where the viability of the economic model depends on massification, made more difficult by urban sprawl. Finally, the intensification of the environmental crisis could reshuffle the cards of the rail business model in its favor, in an innovative public-private partnership model, provided that productivity and quality are improved.