Abstrakt
This paper describes the development of competition in the Czech railway passenger market, where vertical separation of infrastructure and services occurred in 2003. Open access is now allowed for commercial passenger services.
In 2011 the incumbent operator on the key rail route from Prague to Ostrava was challenged by a new operator. Yet another operator entered service on the route at the end of 2012.
This resulted in intensive on-track competition with declines in tariffs and improvements in service. With the exception of the Prague-Ostrava route, the operation of other passenger lines in the Czech Republic is classified by the government as a public service obligation and is subsidised from public budgets.
Long-distance services are organised by the Ministry of Transport. The usual form of procurement was formerly direct awarding of contracts for services to the incumbent.
However, this is changing as competitive tendering is more frequently used. Competitive tenders are also theoretically possible in regional transport, but in 2009, regional transport authorities decided to award all contracts directly to the incumbent operator for a ten to fifteen year period, effectively closing regional markets to competition for that period.