Recent Changes in the Spanish Rail Model: the Role of Competition

Abstract

After a brief historical overview of its main achievements, this paper examines some of the most relevant characteristics of the Spanish rail system and its performance in recent years. It particularly focuses on the new organizational model emerging from the 2003 Railroad Law which, after January 2005, introduced vertical separation and competition in the traditional monopolistic structure of this sector. Although it is early to fully evaluate the results of this change, some interesting lessons can be learnt for countries following the same model.