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The aim of this paper is to assess how the introduction of technological innovations into a capacity constrained rail corridor may increase its ability to capture market share from road transport. The Montpellier-Perpignan section, a bottle-neck in the Mediterranean corridor, is used as a case study for the effects of implementing new rolling stock that allows for freight trains up to 1500 m and a new ballastless track replacing existing one, resilient switched and crossings and monitoring systems that allow for a reduction in maintenance costs and closure times. The results of a cost-benefit analysis show positive net impacts, however the increases in capacity are only enough to maintain current market shares. Evidence suggests that a heavy investment in technology in existing lines is not the most effective way to increase rail market share. Declaration of interest: noneAcknowledgements: This work was supported by the 7 th EU Framework Programme under the Capacity4Rail project (Ref.: SCP3-GA-2013-605650). The authors would like to thank the partners of Capacity4Rail SP5, especially to Burchard Ripke (DB Netz, SP5 leader), Jonathan Paragreen (U. Sheffield), Micael Thunborg (Trafikverket), Miquel Morata (COMSA) and Miguel Rodríguez Plaza (ADIF) for their inputs and critiques. Is large technological investment really a solution for a major shift to rail?A discussion based on a Mediterranean Freight Corridor Case-StudyThe aim of this paper is to assess how the introduction of technological innovations into a capacity constrained rail corridor may increase its ability to capture market share from road transport. The Montpellier-Perpignan section, a bottle-neck in the Mediterranean corridor, is used as a case study for the effects of implementing new rolling stock that allows for freight trains up to 1500 m and a new ballastless track replacing existing one, resilient switched and crossings and monitoring systems that allow for a reduction in maintenance costs and closure times. The results of a cost-benefit analysis show positive net impacts, however the increases in capacity are only enough to maintain current market shares. Evidence suggests that a heavy investment in technology in existing lines is not the most effective way to increase rail market share.

No abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess how the introduction of technological innovations into a capacity constrained rail corridor may increase its ability to capture market share from road transport. The Montpellier-Perpignan section, a bottle-neck in the Mediterranean corridor, is used as a case study for the effects of implementing new rolling stock that allows for freight trains up to 1500 m and a new ballastless track replacing existing one, resilient switched and crossings and monitoring systems that allow for a reduction in maintenance costs and closure times. The results of a cost-benefit analysis show positive net impacts, however the increases in capacity are only enough to maintain current market shares. Evidence suggests that a heavy investment in technology in existing lines is not the most effective way to increase rail market share.