Premium
NEW LABOUR, PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND RAIL TRANSPORT POLICY
Author(s) -
Jupe Robert
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
economic affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1468-0270
pISSN - 0265-0665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0270.2009.01862.x
Subject(s) - bankruptcy , order (exchange) , business , investment (military) , finance , government (linguistics) , software deployment , public policy , public infrastructure , transport infrastructure , industrial organization , economics , transport engineering , engineering , economic growth , linguistics , philosophy , software engineering , politics , political science , law
The New Labour government has favoured the deployment of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) to provide investment in transport infrastructure. The results of this policy on the railways have, however, been disappointing in terms of cost and efficiency. Public transport PPPs require complex contracts underpinned by regulatory mechanisms in order to maintain performance and safety standards. Moreover, risk transfer is difficult to achieve, as essential infrastructure cannot be left to the ultimate market discipline of bankruptcy.