This document addresses how, not whether, to restructure a railway.

Changing transport demands and growing competition from trucks, autos, and air transport are forcing the monolithic railway to change. Options for change must be adapted to different national and other circumstances, with a suitable tradeoff between efficiency of production and effectiveness in meeting market needs.

'...developing countries, complementing their far-reaching privatization programs, are engaged in deregulating various sectors of their economies and devising new regulatory frameworks for others, particularly the utilities sectors.' As economies become more open, pressures on countries to become more competitive drive the call for regulatory reform to reduce costs and foster increased productivity, competitiveness, and growth. This report provides an overview of the costs and benefits of regulation throughout the world. It provides case histories of regulation in different countries, developed and developing and in various sectors, such as, transportation, utilities, and power. It presents different strategies that were employed. Furthermore, it identifies lessons learned and lays the foundations for a best practice scenario for other countries to adopt. While the challenges to regulatory reform are considerable, so are the efforts that developing countries are making to face them. These lessons, when properly adapted to each country's own environment, can significantly increase the likelihood of effective regulation.

The Handbook of RAMS in Railway Systems: Theory and Practice addresses the complexity in today's railway systems, which use computers and electromechanical components to increase efficiency while ensuring a high level of safety. RAM (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability) addresses the specifications and standards that manufacturers and operators have to meet. Modeling, implementation, and assessment of RAM and safety requires the integration of railway engineering systems; mathematical and statistical methods; standards compliance; and financial/economic factors. This Handbook brings together a group of experts to present RAM and safety in a modern, comprehensive manner.