With almost 1000 players active in the German rail market, independent regulation of infrastructure managers and operators of service facilities is essential to ensure fair competition. 2006 the regulatory powers were transferred to the Federal Networks Agency Bundesnetzagentur. We must ensure balanced regulation, most issues will affect the incumbent and largest infrastructure managers. We are working to develop strong standards of regulation, especially in terms of non-discriminatory network access and the publication of transparent network statements. We support the idea of developing network statement templates for the many infrastructure managers who are legally obliged to issue them, although this is still a work in progress. The German rail market is today one of the most competitive in Europe. A very important aspect of regulation is the control of access charges to avoid any discrimination. The most important issue is to calculate a proper rate of return which will adequately compensate the infrastructure manager without pricing train operators out of the market. International harmonisation of regulation is considered vital to ensure comparable market conditions throughout the EU (European Union). However, the European authorities need to determine how much leeway to give member states in interpretation of the directives. From the perspective of pan-European competition, it would be better to promote the strictly-regulated open access regimes already adopted by some of the more progressive member states across the whole EU.


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    Title :

    Good regulation promotes competition


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2010


    Size :

    3 Seiten, 1 Bild, 2 Tabellen



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English