Portugal: Ridiculously Cheap Rail Pass Will Cost Hundreds of Millions and Have Serious Negative Results, Undermining Rail Market Opening
A new €20 rail pass has been announced by the Portuguese Government. It will give unlimited travel on all subsidised trains around the entire country for a whole month – including long-distance Intercity services.
Meanwhile, commercially driven Open Access services and future high-speed trains on similar long-distance routes as the Intercity services will be severely cannibalised.
Passe Absurdamente Barato Vai Custar Centenas de Milhões de Euros aos Contribuintes Com Resultados Muito Negativos, Prejudicando os Benefícios da Abertura do Mercado Ferroviário
O novo passe ferroviário de 20€ por mês que foi anunciado pelo Governo Português permitirá viagens ilimitadas a qualquer passageiro em todos os comboios operados pela CP à exceção apenas do Alfa Pendular – incluindo os comboios de longa distância Intercidades.
Entretanto, os atuais serviços comerciais abertos à concorrência (i.e., o Alfa Pendular), e os futuros serviços de alta velocidade, prestados em trajetos de longa distância semelhantes aos do Intercidades, serão severamente canibalizados.
PSO Subsidies For Me, But Not For Thee: SJ’s Curious Case Of Double Standards
In her interview with Swedish news outlet DN, SJ's CEO Monica Lingegård said: “Given the regions’ finances and the need to be careful with taxpayers' money, you need to ensure that you do not compete with commercial traffic unnecessarily. That we let commercial traffic live and grow in a good way”. However, it seems SJ's stance on taxpayer-funded competition changes depending on which side of the subsidy cheque they are on.
Spin Alert in Poland: State Incumbent PKP Intercity Boasts About ‘Profits’ – but These Are Due to a Gigantic Increase in Directly Awarded Taxpayer Subsidy
State-owned rail incumbents continue to present themselves as financial success stories - which is deliberately misleading. This narrative fails to mention the astronomical growth in directly awarded taxpayer subsidy, without which there would be no ‘profit’.