This books examines the question of whether deregulation reduces rail safety with a detailed investigation of pre- and post-reform rail safety data in countries where complete and comparable data exists.

In this report, some of the world's leading experts in rail regulation examine the restructuring of the sector, focusing on tariff reform and the introduction of competition in one of the world's largest rail networks.

This Act is in six parts with 13 schedules and contains a number of measures to implement the proposals set out in the Government's White Paper ('The future of rail', Cm 6233; ISBN 0101623321) published in July 2004. These measures seek to address structural problems within Britain's railways system in order to establish a more simplified structure, and include: the winding up of the Strategic Rail Authority, with its strategic and financial functions being passed to the Department for Transport and the devolved administrations, and consumer protection activities taken over by the Office of Rail Regulation; and the transfer of rail safety functions from the Health and Safety Commission/Executive to the Office of Rail Regulation.

This report examines the form regulation should take in rail freight markets to promote efficiency in railways and the wider economy.