Contestability in UK rail freight markets: The economics of open access

This paper attempts to apply the theory of contestable markets to rail freight markets, against the background of the privatisation of British Rail and the promotion of greater competition in the railway sector. It concludes that rail freight markets are likely to be imperfectly contestable, and the impact of potential competition relatively small. However, problems involved with concepts such as sunk costs suggest that it would be impossible for an empirical evaluation of rail freight markets to satisfy the full requirements of the theory.