Rail liberalisation in Sweden. Policy development in a European context

Abstract In 1988, rail infrastructure was vertically and institutionally separated from train operations in Sweden. This major reform became the starting point for a step-by-step liberalisation of the sector, with far-reaching implications for organisation and ownership. In this paper we trace the origin of the Swedish railway reforms and follow the subsequent development up until the completed deregulation in 2012. The later initiated (but also to some extent parallel) policy development in the European Union (EU) is studied in some detail, putting the Swedish reforms in context. A major part of the paper is devoted to an analysis of data on the development of the rail market in Sweden and EU as a whole, in an effort to show the impact of market opening and reform policy. The paper concludes with a discussion over the findings, leading to some policy-oriented and managerial conclusions.