交通运输科技英语 Why Do Open Rail Freight Markets Fail to Attract.doc

Why Do Open Rail Freight Markets Fail to Attract Competition? Analysis on Finnish Transport Policy Miika M?kitalo1 Finnish Transport Agency, Helsinki, Finland Since the beginning of 2007, EU legislation has encouraged member states to deregulate their domestic rail freight markets. While many countries have benefited from the resultant liberalisation, in others, markets are changing fairly slowly. The incumbent railway undertaking has a total market share e.g. in Lithuania, Ireland, and Finland. This paper analyses Finnish transport policy as well as the question why deregulation has not brought competition to the rail freight transport market. The research material was collected by using the Delphi technique. This paper illustrates that competition is expected in Finland, and there is a need for structural changes. Market inequality is manifested in access to incumbent’s services, governmental inactivity on market entry as well as in competition in general, traffic control organisation, and personnel training. This paper suggests that governments and governmental authorities should have an active transport policy in order to create a level playing field which could be a basis for equal and stimulating competition. Keywords: competition, entry barriers, railway, transport policy, Delphi technique, Finland 1. Introduction The transport policy of the European Union (EU) aims at developing an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable transport system. The goal is to cut the growth of road and aviation transport and shift the balance towards environmentally friendly transport systems. According to the EU, railways should play an important role in the transport policy change, but the European Commission has not been pleased with either the performance of the railways or the quality of the rail transport services. Surely, there are plenty of reasons for the weak status, for example, the lack of interoperability and the poor condition of the i