Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot

C 2022

Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot

KVIZDA, Martin

Basic information

Original name

Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot

Authors

KVIZDA, Martin (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

1st Edition. London and New York, The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present, p. 186-200, 15 pp. Modern History and Economy 1740-1945, 2022

Publisher

Routledge

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Field of Study

50201 Economic Theory

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

printed version "print"

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14560/22:00129139

Organization unit

Faculty of Economics and Administration

ISBN

978-1-4724-4961-0

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003204749-11

Keywords (in Czech)

dopravní politika; konkurence; železnice

Keywords in English

transport policy; competition; rails

Abstract

V originále

The early railway lines of the mid-nineteenth century were usually built as private businesses without any aspirations to connect to each other. Competition rather than cooperation was the day-by-day situation, but the networks became denser during the 1860s and 1870s. The overall effect in bigger cities was that the different railway companies had to build stations in the city centre. These results are still visible in metropolises like London or Paris, where stations correspond to former rival railway companies. Passengers needed to cross the busy city centre to reach a railway station of another railway company. As for passenger transport, this does not seem to be convenient as it requires transfers from one station to another throughout the busy city centre. An open market with free competition and no restrictions creates a suboptimal solution: disconnections of particular railways created additional costs for passengers as well as shippers, separated stations used much more valuable land in town centres, transhipments of cars and building of connecting lines increased costs as well as land use. The cities were encountering these costs and difficulties for decades, more or less improving their networks mainly after the merger of railway companies and their nationalisation. The chapter analyses the case study of the Czech city of Prague.

Links

GA402/08/1438, research and development project

Name: Konkurenceschopnost a konkurence v železniční dopravě - možnosti a limity hospodářské politiky

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Competitive a advantage and competition within railway trnasport - chances and limits of economic policy

Citovat

KVIZDA, Martin. Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot. In Ralf Roth, Paul Van Heesvelde. The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present. 1st Edition. London and New York: Routledge, 2022, p. 186-200. Modern History and Economy 1740-1945. ISBN 978-1-4724-4961-0. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003204749-11.

@inbook{2212902,
   author = {Kvizda, Martin},
   address = {London and New York},
   booktitle = {The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003204749-11},
   edition = {1st Edition},
   editor = {Ralf Roth, Paul Van Heesvelde},
   keywords = {transport policy; competition; rails},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {London and New York},
   isbn = {978-1-4724-4961-0},
   pages = {186-200},
   publisher = {Routledge},
   title = {Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CHAP
ID  - 2212902
AU  - Kvizda, Martin
PY  - 2022
TI  - Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot
VL  - Modern History and Economy 1740-1945
PB  - Routledge
CY  - London and New York
SN  - 9781472449610
KW  - transport policy
KW  - competition
KW  - rails
N2  - The early railway lines of the mid-nineteenth century were usually built as private businesses without any aspirations to connect to each other. Competition rather than cooperation was the day-by-day situation, but the networks became denser during the 1860s and 1870s. The overall effect in bigger cities was that the different railway companies had to build stations in the city centre. These results are still visible in metropolises like London or Paris, where stations correspond to former rival railway companies. Passengers needed to cross the busy city centre to reach a railway station of another railway company. As for passenger transport, this does not seem to be convenient as it requires transfers from one station to another throughout the busy city centre. An open market with free competition and no restrictions creates a suboptimal solution: disconnections of particular railways created additional costs for passengers as well as shippers, separated stations used much more valuable land in town centres, transhipments of cars and building of connecting lines increased costs as well as land use. The cities were encountering these costs and difficulties for decades, more or less improving their networks mainly after the merger of railway companies and their nationalisation. The chapter analyses the case study of the Czech city of Prague.
ER  -

KVIZDA, Martin. Railways in Prague - Tying and Cutting the Gordian Knot. In Ralf Roth, Paul Van Heesvelde. \textit{The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present}. 1st Edition. London and New York: Routledge, 2022, p.~186-200. Modern History and Economy 1740-1945. ISBN~978-1-4724-4961-0. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003204749-11.

Detailed Information on Publication Record