12. The Japanese Experience with Railway Restructuring

Electric trains (ETs) and hydrogen trains (HTs) offer an opportunity for both Japan and the UK to meet their national targets as part of the Paris Agreement. Although ETs and HTs are considered zero emission at the point of use, their true environmental impact is dependent upon non-tailpipe emissions from fuel/energy production and vehicle manufacture, maintenance and disposal. To assess and compare the carbon dioxide emissions produced from ETs and HTs in Japan and the UK from 2020 and 2050, the operating emissions of these trains were projected. Results compared ET and HT emissions with diesel fuelled trains (DFTs) to better assess which fuel type was the most environmentally friendly. Emissions per train, cumulative emissions and total energy required for ETs and HTs were compared. Results indicated that even with technological improvements, DD DFTs produced the highest level of emissions in both countries, followed by HTs. Although ETs produced the lowest level of emissions, it is likely that a mix of both ETs and HTs will be required to meet passenger demand and for travel within rural areas. As Japan has already transitioned towards ETs, future policy focus should be placed on decarbonisation of their energy sector and a shift away from fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy, otherwise environmental benefits of ETs will be diminished. As the UK is decarbonising its electricity network, focus needs to be placed on electrifying the majority of the rail network and running the rest on hydrogen to decarbonise rail transport.

Japan and the UK: Emission predictions of electric and hydrogen trains to 2050

The last mile is characterized as the last step of delivery to the customer from the logistics point of view. It is necessary to aim and fulfill all customers’ needs mainly during the process of the last mile, because it is directly connected to them. Customer orientation can cause many complications that must be solved according to their will. This part of the supply chain is currently under pressure. Nowadays, trends have changed the last mile into a more ecological process mostly in the transport field. Railway transport is considered as an ecological transport mode therefore the last mile should be done by the railway transport. Preconditions for doing the last mile by the railway transport is the existence of siding (special purpose tracks) at the place of delivery. Our research focuses on minimizing the negative impacts of the last mile to customers in the context of using sidings. This research is based on the real conditions of the Slovak rail network, and on consultation with some experts from freight transport companies.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10154/pdf

Improvement of the Last Mile-Specific Issues in Railway Freight Transport

Network activities are an essential part of the economy. They represent services of general economic interest and include electronic communication, electricity, postal and railway services. At the end of the 1980s, the European Commission brought forward legislative proposals to open the monopolistic service markets of general economic interest. In that way, states would prepare the legislation to liberalise services, and state-owned monopolistic enterprises would adapt to the new conditions in the market. State-owned railway companies were megalomanic, exerting a triple role of managing the railway infrastructure and service facilities and providing railway transport services. In the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) adopted new legislation that would open the railway freight transport market. This initiated a new era of the railway. Separation of the functions within state own monopolistic companies into infrastructure management and railway undertakings quickly became a reality, paving the way for new railway freight operators. EU directives are implemented differently throughout the EU, which leads to various solutions. We have analysed various scientific and professional sources to understand better different correlations between the traffic parameters of the railway freight transport market. The key parameters were: (1) number of new undertakings, (2) ton-kilometres, (3) infrastructure charges and (4) quantity of transported goods. This paper researches the current state of the railway freight transport market and aims to define the shortcomings in the analyses of the impact of railway liberalisation on freight transport. Our research pointed out the need for seeing a broader picture of state interventions and infrastructure manager independence in the context of preventing market marginalisation. In addition, we have concluded that a number of the new undertakings is not a crucial parameter for understanding the railway freight transport market.

/pdf/effects-of-railway-market-liberalisation-european-union-3j2nnin1.pdf

Effects of Railway Market Liberalisation: European Union Perspective

• Competition and coopetition of airline, intercity bus, and entrant HSR operators. • The main driver for the operators’ pricing competition is identified. • Non-pricing strategies may be necessary for the incumbent operators’ survival. • Short-term government policies may not guarantee the passengers’ full satisfaction. We investigate pricing competition between passenger transportation modes in a transportation market by using a game-theoretic approach. Airplane and intercity bus operators are considered as incumbent; while a High-Speed Rail (HSR) operator decides on whether or not to enter the market. If the incumbent operators evaluate the entrance threat of HSR as serious, they have two alternatives: a barrier pricing strategy (BPS) to deter its entrance, and an accommodation pricing strategy (APS). Their interaction involves two competitive and cooperative aspects, called the coopetition interaction. Moreover, we extend the analysis to a real-world situation in which a government, as a social welfare maximizer, intends to certify and support one operator out of two candidate HSR operators. Our analyses reveal that: (a) the passengers’ heterogeneity (with respect to their perceptions on the operators’ quality of services) is the main driver for pricing competition between the three operators. (b) Under certain conditions, implementing a BPS is not only precluded for the incumbent operators, but also their pricing strategies cannot even guarantee their survival in the market. To address this issue, we suggest the incumbent operators adopt non-pricing strategies. Nevertheless, an incumbent operator may freely ride on the other ones’ non-pricing strategy. (c) Under a short-term (long-term) planning horizon, the government should specifically concentrate on compensating for the HSR operating cost (procurement cost of rolling stock). (d) In contrast to the short run, government expenses and the HSR’s profit exploitation provide a strong foundation for the passengers’ full satisfaction in the long run. 

A game-theoretic approach to an oligopolistic transportation market: Coopetition between incumbent systems subject to the entrance threat of an HSR service

When Japanese National Railways was privatized and separated in 1987, the government established a new freight train operation scheme where rail tracks were owned by six JR Passenger companies, and JR-Freight was allowed access to the JR Passenger company's tracks by paying an access charge under the avoidable cost rule, regulated by the national government. The aim of this scheme was to reduce the track costs for JR-Freight. We found that rail freight infrastructure investment had not been high enough because it was only conducted by JR-Freight, and it only included investment in a few facilities owned by JR-Freight but excluded investment in the rail tracks owned by the JR passenger companies. Additionally, the track access charges, calculated by the avoidable cost rule, could not compensate for the track maintenance costs and would induce an undersupply of rail tracks for rail freight traffic. In conclusion, the track access charges paid from JR-Freight to the JR Passenger companies were too low, causing difficulties in the promotion of a modal shift to rail freight.

Issues on modal shift of freight from road to rail in Japan: Review of rail track ownership, investment and access charges after the National Railway restructuring

Seiji Fukuda

Papers

Issues on modal shift of freight from road to rail in Japan: Review of rail track ownership, investment and access charges after the National Railway restructuring