The pursuit of creating a single European passenger transport market has been and remains one of the strategic goals of the European Union. While this goal has been practically achieved in road and air transport, in rail transport we are still dealing with partial opening (international passenger transport) and the necessity to initiate such a process (domestic passenger transport markets).
The reasons for this state of affairs stem from both technological-organizational and economic conditions. The former are related to the fact that there are differences between individual countries regarding the organization and management of train traffic, which involves the need to have appropriately trained personnel qualified in the rules for implementing railway passenger transport processes in a given country, as well as appropriate rolling stock, especially that using a traction network with a different power supply system. On the other hand, given the deficit nature of railway passenger transport (especially in regional traffic) and the associated need for subsidies, there is a natural reluctance of individual countries to allow operators from other countries into their territory for international (and especially domestic) transport. There is a concern here that their entry could mean a reduction in the income of domestic carriers (especially on the most profitable routes), which could deepen their deficit and consequently result in an increase in budget burdens (increased subsidies).
Despite these problems, the process of creating a single European market for railway passenger transport is constantly being deepened, with this initially applying to international transport, and in the future, it will also cover domestic passenger transport markets.
Intentions to open the international railway passenger transport market were articulated as early as the 2001 White Paper, which stated among the tasks to be implemented in the coming years, among other things, the gradual opening of international passenger transport. Discussions on this topic emphasized that although these services are generally loss-making (and therefore covered by state subsidies), there are routes where, due to large passenger flows, revenues can exceed the costs incurred (primarily variable costs). This applies primarily to international routes on high-speed rail lines, where a dynamic increase in the volume of passenger transport is observed (along with the development of this network). Legislative actions taken subsequently led to the opening of access to infrastructure in all member states for the purpose of providing international railway passenger services as of January 1, 2010.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine
Drewnowski_Zagraniczni_operatorzy_przewozow_pasazerskich.pdf