The role of railway stations in increasing transport demand

Abstract

The monopoly of the railway companies and rigid railway regulations and carrier tariffs at the majority of the European railways have significantly affected the drastic reduction in the share of railway traffic in the surface transport of the entire Europe. Many years of stagnation and absence of investments into railway transport, particularly regarding railway stations as well as other useful surfaces along the railway lines of a similar or same function, have led to neglect and uselessness of these facilities in the railway system. High maintenance prices affect additional neglect, even destruction of railway stations and other buildings on the railway grounds, and construction of functional roofed platforms for passenger handling. Regardless of the fact that in their past, the construction of railway lines was the stimulator of the development of various regions and towns, today railway stations have become non-attractive places where people stay just for a short time and only in transit, which is much the case in the Republic of Croatia, but it should be pointed out that even the developed countries have similar problems. The approaching and opening of railway companies to the passengers, as well as the local government, is the priority for a serious market competition with the competitive road transport. In order to achieve this a cross-section of the current condition of the basic function of railway companies in the transport of passengers should be made. The introduction and development of integrated transport of passengers is the next step in the creation of competitive supply of the railway companies. The separation of railway carriers from railway infrastructure means also recognition of the important role of infrastructure manager in transforming the railway stations from the neglected and unattractive places to places with multifunctional facilities. In the first step it is necessary to make a cross-section of the current additional facilities at railway stations, and then to design and supply new facilities motivating the existing passengers to stay longer at the station, and also attracting new users towards stations, i.e. passenger trains. In the future, apart from the traffic function, the railway stations, as gates to the cities, need to take over also a part of the economic, commercial, cultural, sport and other social functions of the city.