NINE ACADEMICS, one former Minister of Transport, three senior administrators and the Chief Executive of Swiss Federal Railways have contributed to this book from the Community of European Railways & Infrastructure Companies.
In 10 chapters the European authors look at reform in Sweden, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic, while a further chapter by railway economic and strategy consultant Lou Thompson reviews developments in the USA, Japan and Latin America.
There is a description of the type of reform adopted by each country and the outcome of the changes. The book concludes that there is no one model which can simply be applied in a country seeking reform. The book states that 'nearly all authors conclude that reforms have improved matters - but mistakes have been made along the way, and further improvements can be made.' Pre-reform expectations about improving modal share have often not materialised, but reforms 'have brought demonstrable benefits in many cases'.
The 194-page book contains numerous data tables, and the European chapters include maps of the national rail networks from Railway Directory. It is also available in German under the title Eisenbahnreformen in Europa - Eine Standortbestimmung.
ISBN 3-7771-0334-9
€38 plus postage from Eurailpress Tetzlaff-Hestra, Nordkanalstrasse 36, D-20097 Hamburg, Germany
