International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

A variety of A variety of methodologies are used across Europe for the estimation of railway infrastructure capacity. This paper introduces the basic principles of the analytical methodology (e.g. Slovak railways) and UIC methodology. On the basis of these new approaches, dependencies between occupation time and buffer time is researched. The aim is to compare the needed buffer time and its impact to the line capacity.

Quality has a fundamental influence to the services in passenger transport. The main objective of transport is to satisfy customers’ (passengers’) requirements on the qualitative, flexible, fast and safe carriage of people and goods. Organisers of transport (public authority), providers of transport services and their customers have a different view on the perception of quality. This fact is influenced by unsystematic assessment to the quality measurement as well as by ignorance of the interaction of the transportation the peoples with the transport system. A basic element of transport service is the movement of the rolling stock with the passenger or goods from the start to end destination. In this point of the technological process of transport, the main bearer of the quality of transport services are the vehicles and the transport infrastructure. From the perspective of the vehicle, its operation-technical and utility properties are very important. From the perspective of transport infrastructure, the operating ratios and conditions are important. Due to the content of the quality concept it is not possible to focus only on the interaction of carriage and transport infrastructure. The paper is focussed on the quality evaluation of performance in regional passenger rail transport in relation to other modes of public transport. Hereby it is necessary to know the perception of quality services as well its value for the client (passenger). Consequently it is needed to set a permanent process of quality evaluation of the provided transport services. The paper is based on the premise that the customer interests present the public ordering body (authority) of the public transportation services.

The competition between operators in the public tender in ordering process of train paths in long-distance rail passenger transport is very significant. The partial liberalisation of the rail market in the European Union was already underway in 2010, when all European railway companies with the necessary licenses gained access to railway infrastructure. One of the current objectives of the common transport policy laid down in The fourth railway package is to open up the market for national rail passenger services in all Member States from 2019.In 2009, the EU Regulation No. 1370/2007 came into force, which sets out the selection procedures for the award of contracts in public rail transport. There are two forms of contracts for transport services in the public interest, either by tendering the competition for traffic performance, or by directly entering the selected railway company. The aim of this article is to analyse steps of the Slovak government in the first public tenders to provide subsidized transport of a selected line and to determine conditions for this tender. This is a significant moment in the railway market in the Slovak Republic, preparing the opening up of the market for domestic long-distance passenger rail transport.

The paper is focused to relationship between rail infrastructure manager and railway undertaking as a subject in railway market. The rail capacity research offers response to questions about possibilities how to satisfy the railway undertaking requirements. The train path allocation is continuous process that is organised by European law in liberalised railway sector. This contribution provides a new look at the issue of rail capacity, its identification and provision for railway transport undertakings. The paper introduces the selected methodologies for railway infrastructure capacity calculation shortly and its importance for non-discriminatory capacity allocation.