Study on the prices and European Commission quality of rail passenger Directorate General for Mobility and Transport services Final Report Our ref: 22870601 April 2016 Client ref: MOVE/B2/2015-126 Prepared by Steer Davies Gleave Study on the prices and European Commission quality of rail passenger Directorate General for Mobility and Transport services Final Report Our ref: 22870601 April 2016 Client ref: MOVE/B2/2015-126 Prepared by: Prepared for: Steer Davies Gleave European Commission Directorate 28-32 Upper Ground General for Mobility and Transport London SE1 9PD Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, MOVE B2 Rue de Mot 28 B-1040, Brussels Belgium +44 20 7910 5000 www.steerdaviesgleave.com Steer Davies Gleave has prepared this material for European Commission, Directorate General for Mobility and Transport. The copyright of all the material belongs to the EU in accordance with article I.9 the public service contract between the European Commission (Directorate General for Mobility and Transport) and Steer Davies Gleave. Nevertheless, the information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Steer Davies Gleave has prepared this material using professional practices and procedures using information available to it at the time and as such any new information could alter the validity of the results and conclusions made. Steer Davies Gleave, the Commission or any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may not be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. Any person other than Steer Davies Gleave or the Commission choosing to use any part of this material shall be deemed to confirm their agreement to indemnify Steer Davies Gleave and the Commission for all loss or damage resulting therefrom. Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Study background ......................................................................................................................... 1 Study objectives and methodology .............................................................................................. 1 Organisation of this report ........................................................................................................... 3 2 The passenger rail market in Europe ................................................................................... 4 European rail travel demand ........................................................................................................ 4 European rail fares ........................................................................................................................ 6 National institutional arrangements .......................................................................................... 19 National railway characteristics .................................................................................................. 27 3 Suburban fares and tickets................................................................................................ 34 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 34 Suburban fares sampled ............................................................................................................. 34 Suburban fares setting and sharing revenue .............................................................................. 43 Fares structures .......................................................................................................................... 47 Discounts and reductions ........................................................................................................... 51 Smart cards ................................................................................................................................. 53 4 Other fares and tickets ..................................................................................................... 54 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 54 Regional fares ............................................................................................................................. 54 Interurban fares at distances under 300 kilometres .................................................................. 59 Interurban fares at distances over 300 kilometres .................................................................... 62 Domestic high speed fares.......................................................................................................... 64 International fares ...................................................................................................................... 67 Setting fares ................................................................................................................................ 70 Discounts .................................................................................................................................... 73 Complexity .................................................................................................................................. 77 Clarity and sales channels ........................................................................................................... 78 5 Intermodal competition .................................................................................................... 83 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 83 Competition with car .................................................................................................................. 84 April 2016 Competition with coach.............................................................................................................. 90 Competition with air ................................................................................................................... 95 Frequency and reliability ............................................................................................................ 98 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 99 6 Intramodal competition ................................................................................................... 101 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 101 Competition within an operator or group ................................................................................ 101 Competition for the market...................................................................................................... 104 Competition in the market ....................................................................................................... 109 Findings ..................................................................................................................................... 110 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 118 7 Quality and customer satisfaction .................................................................................... 120 Journey time and feasible day trips .......................................................................................... 121 Service frequency ..................................................................................................................... 127 Punctuality and reliability ......................................................................................................... 130 Station facilities ........................................................................................................................ 134 Customer satisfaction ............................................................................................................... 136 8 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 140 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 140 Factors influencing rail demand ............................................................................................... 140 Summary of findings ................................................................................................................. 142 Conclusions on market liberalisation ....................................................................................... 143 Figures Figure 2.1: Rail passenger-kilometres by Member State (2013) .................................................. 4 Figure 2.2: Propensity to travel by rail by Member State (2003-2013) ........................................ 5 Figure 2.3: Average annual growth in rail passenger-kilometres (2003-2013) ............................ 6 Figure 2.4: Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices: all transport (2005-2014) ............................ 7 Figure 2.5: Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices: rail transport/all transport (2005-2014)