IRG-Rail Annual Market Monitoring Report

Austrian rail sector in European comparison

• First independent European comparison shows: Austrians already travel 25 percent more by train than others in Europe
• Domestic rail freight transport also at the forefront in European comparison
• Increasing competition, growing supply, and a dense network promote rail use

On Thursday, the Austrian railway regulatory authority Schienen-Control presented its second international market report on the railway sector. Together with 23 other European railway regulatory authorities, Schienen-Control forms the Independent Regulators Group-Rail (IRG-Rail). Its goal is to create homogeneity in the European railway sector.

According to Maria-Theresia Röhsler, Managing Director of Schienen-Control GmbH, IRG-Rail's first market report in 2012 has already succeeded in standardizing the survey methodology and the key figures used in the individual countries in order to make market developments internationally comparable. This year's report makes it possible for the first time to compare results from the European rail transport market and also to identify development trends. This year's report focused on the development of competition, the attractiveness of rail, and rail usage in a European comparison. In the first independent European comparison, Austria proved to be rail-friendly. In both passenger and freight transport, rail is hardly used as intensively anywhere else in Europe as it is in Austria.

All key figures are above average. This underscores the high importance of the rail system in Austria. "Competition has increased significantly over the past two years. This has led to additional services being offered. At the same time, Austria still has a comparatively well-developed network and broad financial support for local transport from the public sector," emphasizes Röhsler. The average number of kilometers traveled by rail per capita per year rose in 2012 compared to the previous year, reaching a European average of 1,068 kilometers. The number of kilometers traveled declined only in Slovenia, where there were declines of between three and four percent in national and international passenger traffic. Rail Control