Supporting Better Decision‑Making in Transport Infrastructure in Spain

4. Introduction

Purpose

This Note provides a benchmarking analysis on practices on selected core components which form part of the infrastructure governance cycle in the railway sector: planning of infrastructure investments, allocation of resources, technical analyses used to support decisions, and project implementation. It presents practices and case studies from Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom, with a specific focus on the railway sector and an emphasis on high speed rail. Canada was initially considered, but finally not included because lack of data and limited relevance (no high-speed railways). The Note supports the recommendations provided in the Assessment Report.

Methodology

The analysis is based on desk research and a dedicated survey carried out for the project.

The OECD Secretariat carried out independent research by consulting public sources including relevant publications, national legislation, and the websites of regulators and ministries.

The OECD team prepared a survey to collect additional information. The survey covered the main components of the infrastructure governance cycle mentioned above and requested participants to provide examples of concrete case studies, data and references, where the material was relevant and available. The survey was shared with designated contact points in regulators from the Network of Economic Regulators (NER) and in ministries that participate in the PPP and Infrastructure Network, for each participating country. Delegates from each country were invited to co-ordinated in order to send a joint response back to the OECD.

The OECD Secretariat reviewed the responses received and liaised with NER delegates and ministry contact points in order to obtain clarifications and additional information when needed. In the rare cases when the OECD reviewers were unable to make contact with a respondent, or where the response to the question were partial or incomplete, they carried out additional independent research on the outstanding issues.

The summary table and the country case studies were drafted on the basis of the independent research conducted by the OECD Secretariat and the responses to the survey. Both these documents were reviewed by the concerned countries1.

This Note was prepared in the context of a spending review being undertaken by the Spanish Independent Fiscal Institution (Autoridad independiente de responsabilidad fiscal or Airef) supported by the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) of the European Union.

Structure

Chapter 5 gives an overview of the key finding of the study. A summary table by country completes this Chapter. Chapter 6 highlights the main characteristics of the rail infrastructure and infrastructure governance in the surveyed countries. It further identifies a number of practices and relevant case studies that could be useful to consider as Spain rethinks its infrastructure governance approach.

Note

← 1.  Except for Australia, that did not answer the Survey.