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Title	Efficient access pricing for rail bottlenecks
Record ID	12697
Personal Name Creator	Beshers, Eric
Corporate Contributor	Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Publisher	Federal Railroad Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation)
Publication Date	20000601
Abstract	This study, which is posted online, was undertaken at the request of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), specifically the Office of the Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development. The FRA Policy Office asked for a review of some of the key questions surrounding the issue of railroad access prices. Access price is to be understood here as the price asked by a railroad that owns a particular segment of track for access to, and use of, that segment of track by some other railroad. The background for this work is public discussion of possible changes in the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. Much of this discussion focuses on the question of access to so- called bottlenecks. Some facilities that either originate or receive rail traffic are served by a single railroad, although another railroad is able to carry that traffic for part of its through movement. It is argued that, if that other railroad could obtain access to such a facility, the railroad customer in question would obtain the benefits of enhanced competition: lower prices and/or better service. In order to address the issue of access it is necessary to address the price of access. Access pricing raises issues distinct from those regarding the rates railroads charge their usual customers. When one railroad sells access to its tracks to another railroad, it is not just selling the use of its facilities to a firm that wants to provide rail service. It is selling the use of its facilities to a competitor. (42 p.)
TRT Terms	Bottlenecks ; Accessibility ; Railroads ; Railroad tracks ; Pricing ; Market share ; Competition ; Regulatory constraints
General Subjects	Access price; ECPR; Efficient component pricing rule; M-ECPR; Market-determined efficient component pricing rule; TELRIC; Total element long-run incremental cost
Classification	NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Economics and Finance; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Laws and Regulations; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Planning and Policy
Geographical Coverage	United States
TRIS Online Accession No	00797546
Resource type	Research Paper
URL	http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/12000/12600/12697/ecpr.pdf
Format	PDF
Language:	English
Database	NTL Digital Repository