Benchmarking global railway freight transportation efficiency during the period of 1980-2004

In transportation studies, global consensus has been reached that railways should replace road transportation in the freight market on a large-scale if the greenhouse effect is to be reduced in the forthcoming decades. However, we know relatively little about the current efficiency situation in railway freight on a global scale and whether it has been able to improve its performance during recent decades. This research uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to reveal efficiency development in this sector. Research results show that certain countries/regions, like North America, China, Russia, Israel and Baltic States, are showing impressive frontier performance, but the railway freight sector has not been able to improve its efficiency performance during the past decades and efficiency is mostly confined to a small number of countries.