Analysis of public-private partnership models in high-speed railway transport in Portugal

Abstract

European railway transportation is not as efficient as it could be. Several factors contribute to this absence of efficiency, including a lack of private investment and exclusively public railway administrators and enterprises. Public-private partnerships can yield higher efficiency in railway transport. Within the high-speed railway sector there are a few implemented infrastructures through public-private partnerships and, in many of them, the result has not been the expected one. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop a list of recommendations and good practices that allow governments, private investors, and railway stakeholders to take better and more efficient decisions on the implementation of new high-speed rail lines. Consequently, this research has analysed the Portuguese high-speed rail network called Rede Ferroviária de Alta Velocidade (RAVE) designed through public-private partnership. The research methodology is based on exploratory case study and on the identification of critical success factors. This article has made it possible to develop the following list of recommendations and good practices, cross-border cooperation for international sections, unique contracts for substructure and superstructure and an independent contract for signalling and communication systems.