Prospects and pitfalls of public-private partnerships in railway transportation - theoretical

One effect of the regulatory reforms in the transportation sector is that private companies increasingly participate in the investments in new transportation systems. These investments may amount to very large sums in the coming 10-year-period (Estasche & Serebrisky, 2004). There are several different ways to categorise these projects, but with a common name they may all be viewed as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). For example, Benett, Grohman and Gentry (1999) describe PPPs as a spectrum of cooperative relations between private and public organisations directed towards the supply of infrastructure services. Some PPP projects may be very long-term, including new infrastructure investments as in concessions and Build-Operate-Transfer projects, while others may be more short-term, concerning reinvestments only and sometimes even limited to the task of operating a finished construction. The overall goal of PPP projects is to find solutions to problems in which the advantages of the private sector (such as financial assets, efficient management, propensity to innovative and entrepreneurship) are combined with the advantages of the public sector (such as social and environmental concern). When done right, PPP projects can be very powerful tools to quickly construct new infrastructure facilities and operate them efficiently. However, experience has also shown that they may sometimes go wrong, creating transportation systems that are inefficient, under-used and loss-making. In several European countries, steps are taken to invest in the upgrading of old lines as well as in the construction of new railway lines, with the common goal to allow for more high-speed train services. This development is partly originating in the perceived needs of the national railway markets, but it is also an important part of the creation of a more competitive European international railway network. In several current cases, such as the new high-speed line Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Brussels (Van de Velde, 2005), and the Swedish so-called stgta Link, PPP arrangements have either been applied or are considered as probable options. In this paper, we will look into the typology of PPPs, the experience of different PPP arrangements in the transportation sector, and consider the possibilities for PPP solutions to become an important element in the creation of more high-speed railway lines in Europe. The paper is based upon a Swedish report of ours, related to the aforementioned stgta Link. For the covering abstract see ITRD E137145.

• Authors:
  • ALEANDERSSON, G
  • HULTEN, S
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 17p
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE EUROPEAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE (ETC) 2007 HELD 17-19 OCTOBER 2007, LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Financing; Investments; Networks; Public private partnerships; Railroad transportation; Transportation
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 244: Financing; 227: Investment; 1154: Network (transport); 172: Public private partnership; 1173: Rail bound transport
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Finance; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01095349
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Apr 25 2008 9:09AM