Infrastructure Access Policies to Promote Sustainable Driving Behaviours in Railway Contexts

Abstract

The free movement of people and goods in the European Union has led to the introduction of a cost to the infrastructure access in the rail sector. However, the current access policies do not encourage the adoption of environmentally sustainable behaviours of the transport service providers. In this context, our proposal provides a methodology for estimating suitable incentives (in terms of access cost reductions) in order to encourage companies to adopt proper driving speed profiles aimed to implement energy-saving strategies. Initial results have shown that the adoption of sustainable driving behaviours may provide a reduction in access costs up to 48%.