COMPARISON OF RAILWAY PERFORMANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION BASED ON DEA ANALYSIS DURING COVID CRISIS

Abstract

The efficiency of transportation systems has decreased due to restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19. The purpose of the research was to analyze the efficiency of railways in connection with the impact of COVID-19 on rail transport itself. Thus, using data envelopment analysis we determined how the measures during the pandemic affected the efficiency of passenger and freight transport. The efficiency of the railway system was evaluated using a linear programming technique that measures the effectiveness of homogeneous decision-making units. The model’s input variables consisted of technical attributes of railway tracks, while the output variables encompassed train operations, the conveyance of goods, and passenger transport. The results show the differences in railway efficiency between EU countries during the COVID-19 crisis. Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 crisis had a more substantial effect on the effectiveness of services than its impact on technical aspects. The results show the differences in railway efficiency between countries during the COVID-19 crisis. In the research, we found that the COVID-19 crisis had a negative impact on service effectiveness, as it decreased by more than 3%, while technical efficiency increased during the analyzed period, mainly at the expense of a lower number of train movements when transport equipment was not maintained. The differences between countries indicate the slow adoption of the necessary measures to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and the need for coordinated and flexible action by rail transport policymakers.