The Future of Rail: Regulation & Competition for an Innovative Industry

This short paper examines the innovation process in rail transport and considers the adequacy of current incentives to innovate. Innovations may take the form of technological improvements in infrastructure or rolling stock, or new ways of marketing, selling, organising and delivering services.

It describes the background to current concerns about the incentives to innovate in the rail industry. The authors then consider the challenges that make innovation necessary, the implications of the current structure of the industry for the incentives to innovate, the issue of regulation, possible solutions to the problem of adequate incentives to innovate, conclusions and further research.