Once the pride of interwar Czechoslovakia, and key during the
forced industrialization of the Stalinist period, during the 1970s
and 1980s the Czechoslovak railway sector showed the symptoms of
the ...political tiredness and economic exhaustion of the Soviet Bloc.
This book examines the failure of central economic planning through
the lens of this national transport system.
Based on the presentation of its history and on the detailed
scrutiny of the actors, institutions, internal mechanisms, and
conditions of the railway sector, the analysis reveals the
identities of the real stakeholders in the state administration.
This case shows how the country was governed by Communist Party
institutions and government ministries, and how developments in the
transportation sector-like in every sector-reflected their
priorities. Numerous tables with selected statistics underscore the
economic analysis and black and white photos offer a glimpse on the
technical base of the railway sector.
The book is filled with enlightening comparisons of the
Czechoslovak transportation industry with its counterparts in the
whole Eastern Bloc. Integration into the Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance (Comecon) of the Bloc could have been an asset,
yet the records have more to say about conflicts than
cooperation.
The article provides an analysis of a competitive situation in railway transport in Germany and defines areas where the Deutsche Bahn holding, which integrates both infrastructure operators and ...carriers, may behave in an anti-competitive way. First of all, conditions of liberalisation in German railways and position of competition in partial sections of transport are introduced. Subsequently, areas which are - from the economic point of view - necessary for operation of competition in the railway sector are identified: it is the height of fees charged for utilisation of transport routes, fees for the use of railway stations, and finally, traction energy fees, too.
On Nov 6-7, 2014, the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the Masaryk University in Brno, in cooperation with the Institute of International Studies of the ...Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague (both located in the Czech Republic), organized the 9th Annual Tel Seminar, which took place in the University Centre of the Masaryk University in Tel. The main topic of the seminar, supported by a grant from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, was Standards of Transport Services: Central Strategy versus Regional Priorities. The goal of the seminar was to define the standards of transport services and, especially, to discuss the interplay of central strategy and regional priorities.
The article analyses railway transport markets in three neighbouring Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany (specifically Bavaria and Saxony), with a focus on regional ...transportation. It examines the organisational form of public transport resulting from regionalisation and provides comparative case studies of regional train services in these countries. The article points out the organisational differences in public transportation between the studied regions and tries to connect these results with the supply of regional train services on various types of lines and in different geographical areas.
This article aims two EU member countries (i.e. Portugal and Germany) from different regions in Europe which have, for decades, been following common strategies regarding HSR development. The authors ...discuss the economic profitability vs. political aims, which were related to rail modernization. The text outlines the historic background of early railway construction, important milestones for a new level of rail planning in the 1980s and 1990s in both Portugal and Germany and delays in the realization of HSR projects, their rising costs, and the opposition of the public against the new lines. The experience of the countries under scope serves as an example for other EU members who have plans to take part in the Trans-European Transport Network.
International railway passenger services have seen considerable changes in Europe over the past few decades. Using international railway connections within and reaching outside the V4 countries (the ...Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) in 1990–2019 as a sample, our paper explores trends and patterns in that matter in Central Europe. We have found that the characteristic focus on relatively very frequent short or medium-distance connections using the best equipped railway corridors – paralleled by a considerable reduction of the remaining services – has also been clearly in evidence in this part of the world. However, trends and patterns in Central Europe are not necessarily a mirror image of what has occurred in Western Europe. For instance, although a considerable shortening of travel times has indeed been observed, it has been achieved – characteristically – thanks to the improved permeability of state borders after the enlargement of the EU in 2004, with only moderate improvements to infrastructure being made. Central Europe therefore seems to be the prime example of an area in which contextual, political and geopolitical factors are the keys to understanding the dynamics of changes in transport systems. On the other hand, evidence from this region may give rise to some reflections on the possible roles for the European long-distance rail transport in the future. To begin with, our results show 800 km to be the threshold beyond which the competitive position of rail becomes significantly lower. Secondly, competitive pressure from innovative newcomers (Regiojet, LeoExpress, Arriva) clearly makes national incumbents more flexible and pro-active. Thirdly, the noticeable spatial re-orientation of international railway connections from the V4 countries towards Vienna and Munich (at the expense of Berlin) that we have observed is partly related to the appeal of these cities as multimodal gates with excellent locations within European transport networks. It would therefore seem that the railways in this part of Europe have been attempting to become an integral part of the international multi-modal long-distance transport system.
•A noticeable re-arrangement of international long-distance railway connections in Central Europe in 1990–2019.•The fall of Berlin's gravity in Central Europe and the increasing appeal of Vienna as a multimodal gate providing access to Western Europe.•Conventional rail can play an important role in international passenger transport, but 800 km is a clear threshold beyond which its competitive position becomes significantly lower.•Innovative new railway operators also enter international connections – the result of market liberalization.•Central Europe is the prime example of an area in which contextual, political and geopolitical factors are the keys to understanding the dynamics of changes in transport systems.
During Angela Merkel's term as Chancellor, Germany did not play a leading role in the realm of security and defense; moreover, estrangement with the German government's allies based on its attitude ...towards Putin's Russia slowly grew. Since Russia's war against Ukraine began, the situation has changed dramatically. This article will show the different reactions of the Visegrád 4 (V4) countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary) to the Zeitenwende turning point in Germany, focusing on Germany´s relationship with Russia, its energy security policy, defense, and support for Ukraine. The question is whether Germany is shaping the Zeitenwende into a 180° turnaround in policy or a 360° pirouette resulting in continuity of its former policies and further mutual loss of trust. Germany is unlikely to become a pre-eminent military leader but can make positive contributions if it implements the Zeitenwende and regains the trust of its eastern partners.
This paper investigates the transport policy development and characteristics of the Austrian passenger transport sector from the 1950s onwards. The analysed performance indicators deal with the three ...most prevalent modes of transport (cars, trains and airplanes) and are linked to independent decision-making units (passengers) and their motives (price, quality and time to destination) as well as to goals and decisions involved in government policies. In this theoretical framework, we identified three developmental phases, using an interdisciplinary approach to assess the development of three variables of interest (number of car, air and train passengers). In the long term, transport policy aimed to solve the rigidity and lack of vision in train transport and the extensive use of cars. Air transport was a steadily growing segment in a close and positive relationship with trains, which is in line with the transport political orientation towards Vienna Airport and train connections to the capital city. The post-war phase (1945–1970) was characterised by enormous growth in the number of cars, an upswing in air transport and stagnant train transport. The second phase (1970–1994) was defined by a progressive liberalisation of rail transport and a plan to balance the growth rates of car, train and airplane performance variables. Finally, in the 1995–2019 phase, the growth in train transport increased; however, this growth remained far below the growth rates of air and car performance variables. Transport policy achievements and shortcomings for future research are suggested.
This paper describes the development of competition in the Czech railway passenger market. The vertical separation of infrastructure and services occurred in 2003. Open access for commercial ...passenger services is allowed, and it was utilised in 2011 when the incumbent on the key rail route Prague–Ostrava was challenged by a new operator; a third operator entered the route at the end of 2012. This resulted in an intensive on-track competition with tariff declines and service improvements. With the exception of the Prague–Ostrava route, the operation of other passenger lines is classified as a public service obligation and is subsidised from public budgets. Long-distance services are organised by the Ministry of Transport, and the usual form of procurement used to be a direct awarding of services to the incumbent. However, this is changing as competitive tendering is being used more frequently. Competitive tendering is also theoretically possible in regional transport, but in 2009, regional transport authorities decided to directly award all contracts to the incumbent for 10–15 years, effectively closing regional markets for that period.
The article deals with the state of the railway sector in a centrally planned economy in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s. It compares the “to-be” position of the Czechoslovak state railway with ...the real situation in the railway sector. The Czechoslovak railway sector changed a lot during the two analysed decades – it lost its superior position to road transport and showed evident signs of stagnation, even though a big part of economy was dependent on the railway transport. The position of railway transportation had weakened within the two decades and the country lost its stage by stage initiative in modernisation of the railway sector. The railway sector lost its pre-1970s sovereignty in transport and had become more dependent on the general situation of the Czechoslovak economy. It was the reason for stagnation as a result of development of the railway sector in late socialism in Czechoslovakia.
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