Friday, March 24, 2006
Europe's Mania for Trains Wastes Money
Writing in Financial Times, European Parliament member Ari Vatanen says that Europe's efforts to get cars and trucks off the road by investing more money in rail lines is a waste and is reducing Europe's competitiveness in the world. Despite government spending of hundreds of billions of euros on rail, Europeans are showing their preference for cars and trucks.
Vatanen says that European countries collect 330 billion euros a year from auto and truck users but spend only 100 billion euros on roads. Meanwhile, they spend 105 billion euros on passenger trains but only collect 40 billion in fares.
This document from the European Union shows that, from 1980 to 2000, rail's market share of freight in Europe declined from 22 to 14 percent and its share of urban and intercity passenger travel declined from 9.6 to 7.4 percent. Meanwhile, trucks went from 62 to 75 percent of freight while autos increased from 76.4. to 78.3 percent.
The interesting thing about these figures is that Europe has a deliberate policy of trying to get more freight to go by rail. The U.S. has no such policy; instead, it deregulated all of its transport in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a result, over the same period, U.S. railroads increased their market share of freight transport while truck's share has declined. Maybe Europe should think about deregulation rather than more planning.
Vatanen says that European countries collect 330 billion euros a year from auto and truck users but spend only 100 billion euros on roads. Meanwhile, they spend 105 billion euros on passenger trains but only collect 40 billion in fares.
This document from the European Union shows that, from 1980 to 2000, rail's market share of freight in Europe declined from 22 to 14 percent and its share of urban and intercity passenger travel declined from 9.6 to 7.4 percent. Meanwhile, trucks went from 62 to 75 percent of freight while autos increased from 76.4. to 78.3 percent.
The interesting thing about these figures is that Europe has a deliberate policy of trying to get more freight to go by rail. The U.S. has no such policy; instead, it deregulated all of its transport in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a result, over the same period, U.S. railroads increased their market share of freight transport while truck's share has declined. Maybe Europe should think about deregulation rather than more planning.
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