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

The liberalisation of European passenger rail markets under the EU’s Fourth Railway Package confronts suburban rail operators with a fundamentally new competitive environment. Where incumbents once operated under protected concessions, they now face the prospect of open-access competition and competitive tendering. This paper proposes a two-dimensional model of competitiveness centred on eco-efficiency and service quality — treated not as independent performance metrics, but as mutually reinforcing drivers of long-term market position. Eco-efficiency is defined as the ratio of transport output, measured in passenger-kilometres, to the energy and resource inputs required to achieve it, including CO₂ emissions. Service quality is assessed across five dimensions: reliability, passenger comfort, rolling-stock condition, accessibility, and the onboard environment. Drawing on European comparative practice and a focused analysis of the Plovdiv–Karlovo suburban corridor in Bulgaria, the paper demonstrates that these two dimensions operate in a relationship of synergy. Modern, energy-efficient rolling stock improves the passenger experience and raises load factors, which in turn yields further gains in eco-efficiency. The corridor analysis illustrates both the potential and the current constraints facing operators in a post-socialist railway context.
An examination of existing Public Service Obligation (PSO) frameworks reveals a structural misalignment: current subsidy schemes are oriented predominantly toward maintaining geographic service coverage, rather than rewarding environmentally efficient and high-quality delivery. This creates an incentive structure that may discourage investment in precisely the capabilities that would enhance competitiveness under liberalisation. The paper concludes with targeted recommendations for reorienting performance indicators and funding mechanisms toward the proposed dual-driver model, with the aim of placing suburban rail development on a more sustainable and competitive footing.

In the Czech Republic, the rail transport market has been liberalized for several years – in addition to public services, commercial services of individual rail carriers operate too. Public services in long-distance rail transport are ordered by the Czech Ministry of Transport. In December 2019, the 10-year contract between Czech Ministry of Transport and Czech Railways will end. The approaching end of this contract was connected with great interest of other rail carriers, which led to the fact, that the Czech Ministry of Transport demanded individual long-distance rail lines in the form of so called “market consultations”. Preparing of the operational performance of individual long-distance rail lines for the needs of market consultations was a great challenge on the field of transport-planning. As a result, from December 2019 there will operate 4 different rail carriers in ordered long-distance rail transport in The Czech Republic and this situation is unique in its form and unparalleled throughout the EU.

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 postal services market is facing big challenges, both on global and national level. Besides e-substitution, a liberalization of the postal market contributes to the greater extent to this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to examine a state of the postal market in Serbia and main developments, considering a trend in the number of postal operators, number of services, service diversification, relation between letter and parcel market, etc.