Expertise

In the light of the reforms of regulatory policy and the undergoing developments in rail transport, regulatory and competition policy issues are an essential part of our activities in research and consulting related to rail economics. 

On the one hand, we focus on relevant aspects of access to rail infrastructure, such as formation and regulation of access charges, cost modelling, quality regulation, unbundling, allocation of train paths, and access agreements. On the other hand, we deal with market and competition analyses as well as with business and privatization strategies. 

Beyond the rail sector, we engage in relevant economic issues of road haulage, inland navigation as well as air and maritime transport. Transport modes increasingly supplement each other in the provision of multimodal transport services, but also compete intensively with each other. Besides, calculation of infrastructure and external costs as well as of user charges, ecnonomic issues in state aid control, infrastructure planning and financing, guarantee of market access, improvement of service quality and customer protection, enhancement of environmental compatibility and transport safety, and reduction of energy consumption are challenges that concern all types of transport. In this context, on top of our sound expertise in transport economics we benefit from WIK’s interdisciplinary skills and long-standing experience in other network sectors.