15th Florence Rail Forum : private financing of railway infrastructures

Abstract

European railways are receiving a substantial amount of public funding. Necessary infrastructure upgrades and European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) deployment are further increasing the amounts needed. The benefits of an interoperable European railway infrastructure will outweigh those costs on the long run but on the medium term the funding needs of railway infrastructure are challenging. The European Commission has been exploring tools to further the role of private investors yet there are still not many successful examples of private funding for railway infrastructure. As discussions about the future EU’s Multi Annual Financial Framework (MFF) are slowly beginning the 15th Florence Rail Forum addressed examples, opportunities and open issues with different forms of private as well as public funding of railway infrastructure.