‘A highly successful model’? The rail franchising business in Britain

A crucial feature of rail privatisation in Britain was franchising. Passenger services were franchised in competitive bidding processes to train operators which were meant to function with declining subsidy. The article adopts the framework of social cost-benefit analysis to examine rail privatisation’s impact on three key groups; consumers, producers and the government. It establishes that privatisation did not achieve all the supposed benefits. Further, franchising only appears to be profitable through the use of calculative accounting practices, whereby franchised train operators are portrayed as discrete business entities, whereas they are supported by very substantial, ongoing direct and indirect government subsidies.     

Trading off public values in High-Speed Rail development in China

Theory on how different public values are prioritized in transport infrastructure planning is growing increasingly sophisticated, but most of it has focused on Western countries. Its relevance to China is thus far unknown territory. In this article, we apply the theory on public values and the way various values are traded off against each other to the case of High-Speed Rail development in China. We develop a Public value tradeoff matrix enabling us to identify and measure the various public values at play and to establish what changes took place in the prioritization of various public values over time. In the history of HSR development in China, a shift from regional equity and safety through economic growth and speed to organizational efficiency and cooperation can be observed in the period before HSR took off in China until now. The trading off process takes place through different institutional paradigms and organizational mechanisms in China than in Europe and America, and occurs more at the strategic apex of the administrative hierarchy.     

Impact of transit stations on house prices across entire price spectrum: A quantile regression approach

This study provides evidence on the impact of a heavy-rail-based transit station on house prices by employing quantile regression method on a dataset that inventories sales transactions of single-family houses during the January 2000–April 2018 period, and within eight kilometers (five miles) of the Warm Springs station of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system. The station is located in Fremont, CA. The results show that a) the station increased house prices across the entire price spectrum, and b) the price increase began more than ten years before the rail service commenced. On a larger note, this study should strengthen efforts to a) provide or extend heavy-rail-based rapid transit systems in areas of high need and b) explore the use of value capture tools to fund transit.     

空铁联运协同下的跨域航空服务网络优化

为解决各机场竞相开设航班所导致的空域航班密度过大及与之相伴的航班延误问题,从需求管理的角度研究空铁联运网络优化及空铁协调下的客运组织问题。在建立由航班、高速铁路和空铁换乘系统构成的复合网络的基础上,以城市圈为区域单元,构建考虑公平性约束和高速铁路对航班喂给条件的上层空铁联运跨域航空服务网络优化模型和下层乘客路径选择模型的双层优化模型,旨在最小化区域间的出行总时间。在实证分析部分,对研究区域进行计算结果分析,并分析公平性指数对区域间运输系统效率的敏感性,为跨域航空服务网络优化研究提供参考依据。     

不确定客流条件下轨道交通全日行车计划的决策模拟

城市轨道交通系统的运输组织需要根据客流特点编制列车开行计划,其中全日行车计划是列车开行计划的基础,对列车开行方案、列车运行图和车辆运用计划具有重要影响。在简要介绍全日行车计划编制的主要内容和步骤基础上,利用Crystal Ball软件对客流计划不确定条件下的全日行车计划的编制进行模拟分析,模拟结果得到了包含更多辅助信息的决策方案,也为实际应用提供了可操作的新方法和工具。     

高铁综合交通枢纽对周边区域影响研究——以北京南站为例

高铁综合交通枢纽具有交通功能和城市功能两个基本属性,对周边区域产生节点效应和场所效应。这两种效应的发展关系存在着六种不同发展类型,即:过多节点效应发展、相互依赖发展、相互紧张发展、平衡发展、相互调整发展和过多场所效应发展。文章以北京南站为例,发现北京南站目前属于过多节点效应发展类型,北京南站过多的交通功能减弱了其对周边区域的城市功能,压制了其场所效应的发展。在北京南站后期发展过程中,需要政府根据实际特点进行相关产业发展的支持协调,寻求其节点效应和场所效应的最优平衡点,以发挥高铁枢纽站对周边区域发展影响的最大效应。     

高速铁路兰州至张掖三四线运输需求分析

高速铁路兰州至张掖三四线运输需求是确定其建设方案、投融资模式、主要技术标准、运输组织和运营管理方案的决策依据,更是确定铁路经济效益和修建可行性的关键指标。通过对旅客运输径路比较分析,结合区域路网构成确定高速铁路兰州至张掖三四线可能的功能定位,包括"城际功能为主"、"城际、通道功能并重"和"通道功能为主"3种情景。再基于"情景分析"的基本原理,利用"四阶段法"预测高速铁路兰州至张掖三四线处于3种不同情景下的运输需求,即远期客流密度分别为805万人/a、1426万人/a和1852万人/a。     

沿江高速铁路建设实施方案研究

随着长江沿线城市化进程的加快和经济社会的发展,既有沪汉蓉铁路已经逐步不适应国家战略要求和沿线城市群间快速通达需求。高速铁路具有运量大、成本低、能耗小、占地少等优势,是绿色、大众化的交通工具。结合国家中长期高速铁路网规划,通过阐述沿江铁路通道发展现状及存在问题,结合通道内各区段预测客流量提出规划方案;最终形成沿江高速铁路"三步走"建设实施方案,有利于完善长江立体综合交通走廊建设,缩短时空距离,优化综合运输结构体系。     

Standard costs of regional public rail passenger transport: evidence from Italy

ABSTRACT

The paper estimates the standard cost in Italian regional public rail passenger transport services (LPTR), depending on service characteristics. The results highlight the crucial role of: number of seats per ride, commercial speed, service size and length of rail tracks. The model also shows the positive link between investment in rolling stock and the unit cost of the service. Finally, based on the empirical evidence, we propose regulatory adjustments to accomplish policy targets regarding the fair allocation of public LPTR funds to Regions and Local Authorities and a more efficient use of (scarce) local and national public resources.