Railway efficiency analysis from larger Europe during the period 1994–2003

This paper represents efficiency analysis of European railways during the period of 1994–2003 with the measurement interval of 1 year. We have separated freight and passenger transports in our Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, and have used in each case two different input oriented DEA models. However, freight and passenger models are brought together in terms of graphical joint-evaluation. Results of our research show that in a 10-year period, European railways have either been efficient in cargo or freight operations, and the number of countries showing good performance in both of the dimensions is scarce. In addition to this, we also find that in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, efficiency has declined during the observation period, and therefore, especially passenger operations in these countries, are in need of considerable output increase or input restructuring. However, the sample also contains a number of CEE countries, where both freight and passenger operations are in need of considerable efficiency improvement. In a ‘better performing’ Europe, improvement need lies primarily in freight operations.