The Roles of Government



Government, Railways, and the Public Interest

Section 4 addresses the roles of government in the railway sector. Collectively, the execution of these roles is referred to as sector governance, to distinguish it from corporate governance (the governance of the individual railway entities themselves).

Essentially, this toolkit promotes greater market focus and commercial orientation in the railway sector, so it may seem surprising that the role of government is given such prominence. But experience shows that government actions are always influential and often decisive in helping or hindering a successful railway industry. Rail sector governance affects who may be industry participants and the terms on which they compete, environmental and safety standards, the extent of public financial support, long-term infrastructure development, among many other factors. All of these are matters of public interests—hence also of government interests.

What are the public interests? This toolkit defines public interests as the following: the railway industry should be efficient; railway service levels and quality should respond to market demands while maintaining affordability for the public purse; and rail services should maintain national—perhaps international—safety and environmental standards (Figure 6.1).

The six main roles in which governments pursue public interests are summarized in Figure 6.2.

By necessity, there is overlap among these six government roles, but it is useful to analyze them individually, not least because the success of each role requires unique skills and tools. The remainder of this section will summarize each role and more details are presented in other sections of this toolkit.

    
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