Fabio Manganiello on Nostr: Proud to see #Trenitalia 🇮🇹 at the top of the most recent comparative analysis ...
Proud to see #Trenitalia 🇮🇹 at the top of the most recent comparative analysis of European rail operators. Even above the usually outstanding Swiss and Austrian railways.
Trenitalia, once among the worst operators in Europe, has become in the past decade an example of how to do railways right.
The railway infrastructure itself can be held by a monopoly or quasi-monopolistic entity, which should be never expected to be profitable, nor be subject to market rules. That entity can lease its infrastructure to multiple competitors that run the actual trains (like Italo, which trails not far behind and on par with Swedish and Finnish trains, or smaller, local train operators to feel the gaps on “unprofitable” lines), and those leasing profits can be reinvested into high speed lines, more trains and lower ticket prices.
Not surprised to see the Dutch NS towards the bottom of the chart instead. NS is instead the example of everything that doesn’t work. Once among the best trains in Europe, its services have badly degraded since 2020. Both the Dutch railway operator (ProRail) and the trains operator (NS) are de facto absolute monopolies, but monopolies that are expected to be profitable and subject to market rules, while not being accountable for bad decisions through loss of market share.
That’s literally the worst of the two worlds. It means that both the companies have been struggling with chronic staff shortages for years because their salaries aren’t attractive (something that tends to happen when you run what’s supposed to be a public service while being profitable).
And ticket prices are among the highest in Europe: something that also tends to happen when you have to turn a profit, but you don’t have to worry about overcharging your customers because your customers have nowhere else to go, so the cost of your mismanagement is eventually dumped upon your own users.
And the railway line has been a constant work in progress for the past 5 years, with most of the work running late (because of the aforementioned shortages) and cancelations and delays being the new norm. The Netherlands is the only civilized country I’ve been to where passengers are advised to check in real time if their train is going to run through an app (9292), because even Google Maps can’t keep track of all the mess on their railway. Other countries have already figured out how to stick to their train schedules without surprises.
Oh, and the high speed railway network basically doesn’t exist (besides the French-owned Thalys trains, and the British-owned Eurostar line that Amsterdam will probably see in 2125 given the current construction struggles and delays). That’s because the NS CEO has done a bit of market analysis, noticed that the median trip on one of his trains lasts less than 40 minutes, and decided that Dutch citizens don’t need high speed. This is also the kind of thing that tends to happen when you are expected to be profitable, but you don’t have any competitors to fill the gaps or punish you when you screw things up.
For once, it looks like the efficient Dutch may have a lot to learn from Italians (and French).
Trenitalia, once among the worst operators in Europe, has become in the past decade an example of how to do railways right.
The railway infrastructure itself can be held by a monopoly or quasi-monopolistic entity, which should be never expected to be profitable, nor be subject to market rules. That entity can lease its infrastructure to multiple competitors that run the actual trains (like Italo, which trails not far behind and on par with Swedish and Finnish trains, or smaller, local train operators to feel the gaps on “unprofitable” lines), and those leasing profits can be reinvested into high speed lines, more trains and lower ticket prices.
Not surprised to see the Dutch NS towards the bottom of the chart instead. NS is instead the example of everything that doesn’t work. Once among the best trains in Europe, its services have badly degraded since 2020. Both the Dutch railway operator (ProRail) and the trains operator (NS) are de facto absolute monopolies, but monopolies that are expected to be profitable and subject to market rules, while not being accountable for bad decisions through loss of market share.
That’s literally the worst of the two worlds. It means that both the companies have been struggling with chronic staff shortages for years because their salaries aren’t attractive (something that tends to happen when you run what’s supposed to be a public service while being profitable).
And ticket prices are among the highest in Europe: something that also tends to happen when you have to turn a profit, but you don’t have to worry about overcharging your customers because your customers have nowhere else to go, so the cost of your mismanagement is eventually dumped upon your own users.
And the railway line has been a constant work in progress for the past 5 years, with most of the work running late (because of the aforementioned shortages) and cancelations and delays being the new norm. The Netherlands is the only civilized country I’ve been to where passengers are advised to check in real time if their train is going to run through an app (9292), because even Google Maps can’t keep track of all the mess on their railway. Other countries have already figured out how to stick to their train schedules without surprises.
Oh, and the high speed railway network basically doesn’t exist (besides the French-owned Thalys trains, and the British-owned Eurostar line that Amsterdam will probably see in 2125 given the current construction struggles and delays). That’s because the NS CEO has done a bit of market analysis, noticed that the median trip on one of his trains lasts less than 40 minutes, and decided that Dutch citizens don’t need high speed. This is also the kind of thing that tends to happen when you are expected to be profitable, but you don’t have any competitors to fill the gaps or punish you when you screw things up.
For once, it looks like the efficient Dutch may have a lot to learn from Italians (and French).