ERA Standard Inputs for Economic Analysis in rail
This page contains a list of standard input data about indicative unit cost and other metrics to facilitate cost-benefit analyses and economic research on the EU railway sector.
What is the ERA Railway System Data Inventory
The ERA Railway System Data Inventory (RSDI) is a repository of standard input data items commonly used in economic analyses, especially cost-benefit analyses. The RSDI provides indicative reference values or ranges that allow analysts to make more informed choices of assumptions when performing economic analyses with reliable information on order of magnitude of certain costs or dimensions of railway assets, products and operations.
The standard input data in the RSDI are not statistics or official average reference values. They are rather approximate unit values of dimensions or indicators that can save time in the development, for example, of cost-benefit analyses and economic impact assessments.
How is the ERA Railway System Data Inventory developed
The RSDI has been consolidated using published literature and feedback from rail sector companies. All values or ranges listed are based on very detailed indicators and the RSDI is updated annually resulting in improved standard input data or new/revised indicators. The ERA Economic Steering Group is in charge of the annual updates where experts from the ERA Representative Bodies are appointed.
The first release of the RSDI has been made possible by a specific ERA Economic Steering Group Task Force in 2024. The details of the processes undertaken are available in the Task Force’s Final Report.
Disclaimer
The RSDI values/ranges are indicative only. They are not statistically sound for the EU rail sector and primarily provide information of an order of magnitude nature. The reference year of the RSDI data varies from 2021 to 2024.
The majority of the RSDI values/ranges derive from anonymous surveys of rail sector companies. Their robustness, representativeness and accuracy cannot be measured and, consequently, not guaranteed.
The Agency cannot be held responsible for errors or inaccuracies of the RSDI. Nevertheless, the the values/ranges are considered plausible on the basis of the ESG expert judgment and can be used/referenced in economic analyses in rail.
Reproduction of RSDI values/ranges is permitted if they are credited to the European Union Agency for Railways as the source. In addition, any reference must include the disclaimer ‘the value estimated is indicative’. Authors making use of the RSDI are encouraged to share their work, studies, or reports with the Agency.
Comments, suggestions, ideas for new RSDI indicators and sharing of work or studies making use of the RSDI can be sent to RSDI
era [dot] europa [dot] eu (RSDI[at]era[dot]europa[dot]eu).
Other sources
Relevant data and information for performing economic analyses in rail at EU level are available from:
Rail Market Monitoring Scheme, European Commission
KPI and Benchmarking of infrastructure managers subgroup, Platform for Rail Infrastructure Managers
Market Monitoring, Independent Regulators’ Group - Rail