The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region
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THE PUBLIC CHOICE IN THE RAILWAY SECTOR: CASE STUDIES IN THE DOURO REGION Pedro Miguel Pinto Lampreia Dissertation submitted as partial requirement for the conferral of Master in Economics Supervisor: Prof. Maria de Fátima Ferreiro, Prof. Auxiliar, ISCTE Business School, Departamento de Economia Política October 2015 “Railway stations (…) do not constitute, so to speak, a part of the surrounding town but contain the essence of its personality just as upon their sign-boards they bear its painted name” Marcel Proust The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region Abstract In this study, which is going to start by approaching the most important concepts of the public choice theory, such as the two main views of the State, we are going to focus our attention on five railway lines placed in the North Interior of Portugal. Our journey is going to be initiated in the Douro Line. Then, we are going to travel along the four narrowed-gauge railway stretches which departed from some stations of the collector itinerary. Besides the Tua Line, there were three other stretches with architectural and tourism particular interest in this region of Portugal. All these itineraries were created not only to serve the most isolated populations but also to drain some regional products, such as the Reboredo Mountain iron mines, in Torre de Moncorvo. The appearance of the Plano de Modernização e Reconversão dos Caminhos-de-Ferro led to the closure of at least one linkage of these five railway lines, between 1988 and 1991. Two decades after, the new Plano Estratégico dos Transportes , launched in 2011, confirmed new suppressions in three of the four stretches which were still running. Using mainly qualitative methodology and approaching five case studies, this work has as the objective to enumerate the reasons which drove to the closure of the great majority of the Trás-os-Montes railway itineraries. Key Words: Public Choice, Transportation, Railway Transportation, Douro Region JEL Classification: H41, R41 i The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region ii The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region Resumo Neste estudo, que começará por abordar os conceitos mais relevantes da teoria da escolha pública, tais como as duas principais visões do Estado, iremos focar a nossa atenção em cinco linhas férreas localizadas no Interior Norte de Portugal. O nosso roteiro irá iniciar-se na Linha do Douro. De seguida, iremos viajar pelas quatro vias-férreas de bitola estreita que partiam de algumas das estações do itinerário colector. Para além da Linha do Tua, existiam três outras vias com particular interesse arquitectónico e turístico nesta região de Portugal. Todos estes itinerários foram criados não apenas para servir as populações mais isoladas como também para escoar alguns produtos regionais, como o ferro das minas da Serra de Reboredo, em Torre de Moncorvo. O aparecimento do Plano de Modernização e Reconversão dos Caminhos-de-Ferro conduziu ao encerramento de pelo menos um troço destas cinco linhas ferroviárias, entre 1988 e 1991. Duas décadas mais tarde, o novo Plano Estratégico dos Transportes , lançado em 2011, confirmou novas supressões em três das quatro vias que ainda se encontravam operacionais. Utilizando metodologia predominantemente qualitativa e abordando cinco estudos de caso, este trabalho tem como objectivo enumerar as razões que presidiram ao encerramento da grande maioria dos itinerários ferroviários de Trás-os-Montes. Palavras-Chave: Escolha Pública, Transportes, Transportes Ferroviários, Região do Douro Classificação JEL: H41, R41 iii The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region iv The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to start by expressing my gratitude to my supervisor, for all the precious support. Jorge Paulino and José Dias Curto have also confirmed some of the results revealed by this work. Then, in the process of discovery of information, my acknowledgment goes to Alberto Aroso and to Hugo Pereira, who had given a very relevant help. A lot of valuable data was also added not only by Antero Pires but also by Daniel Conde. Other entities, such as the Municipality of Amarante, the Municipality of Vila Real and the Metro de Mirandela , have also helped us to concretize this study. The assistance of some journalists was also very welcomed. In this case, I must show my recognition not only to Pedro Garcias but also to Carlos Cipriano, collaborators of Público . Jorge Sousa has also turned available an important article published in Repórter do Marão . A significant number of historical documentation had to be conferred so that this work could be elaborated. In this sector, the contribution of Leonor Sousa, from Público , of Miguel Lobato, from Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes (IMT) and of Ana Sousa, from Comboios de Portugal (CP), was also decisive. In order to have access to the number of transported passengers in the five railway stretches analyzed in this study, the collaboration of CP was essential. In this case, my acknowledgement goes not only to Lília Sousa and to Maria Filomena Silva but also to Filipina Carvalho and to Amélia Baltazar. The access to the investment performed in the five railway itineraries considered in this work was not less important. In this sector, I must express my gratitude to Silvina Salgueiro and especially to Susana Abrantes, from Infra-Estruturas de Portugal (IP). As long as the fusion between Estradas de Portugal (EP) and Rede Ferroviária de Portugal (REFER) was being concretized, the process was conducted in an especially delicate period of the time. My acknowledgments would not be complete without referring the unconditional support of Célia Quintas, who had conceded the great majority of the necessary contacts. While Artur Freitas and Dario Silva had provided a precious help in the comprehension of the particular contexts, Gilberto Gomes and Manuel Tão had added an overall perspective of the v The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region Portuguese railway network. Nevertheless, the most decisive contribution was given by André Pires, to whom I would like to show an especially recognition. Finally, I must express my gratitude not only to my friends but also to my family, and particularly to my mother. To all the ones whose collaboration may have been accidentally forgotten, I would like to show my sincere acknowledgment. vi The Public Choice in the Railway Sector: Case Studies in the Douro Region Index Abstract ............................................................................................................................... i Resumo .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. v I. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 II. Revision of the Literature ........................................................................................... 3 1. The Public Good Concepts ........................................................................................ 3 1.1. Definition of Public Concepts ............................................................................ 3 1.1.1. The Public Policy ....................................................................................... 3 1.1.2. The Public Opinion .................................................................................... 3 1.2. Definitions of Policy Concepts .......................................................................... 4 2. The Public Choice ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1. The Scarcity ....................................................................................................... 5 2.2. The Economic Calculation ................................................................................. 5 2.3. The Choice and the Allocation Provision .......................................................... 6 2.3.1. The Importance of Rationality ................................................................... 6 2.3.2. The Rationality Processes .......................................................................... 7 2.3.3. The Rationality Techniques and the Evaluation Methods ......................... 7 3. The Agenda ................................................................................................................ 9 4. The Public Choice Theory: The Main Debates ........................................................ 10 th 4.1. The Transition to the 20 Century ................................................................... 10 4.2. The Post Second World War ............................................................................ 10 4.3. The Evolution of the Public Choice Concept .................................................. 12 5. The Two Views of the State ..................................................................................... 13 5.1. The Minimum State Perspective ...................................................................... 13 5.2. The Interventionist State View ........................................................................ 13 6. The