THE IMPACT OF SUBSIDIES ON THE REGIONAL PASSENGER RAIL TRANSPORT

The passenger rail transport is undergoing changes not only in the Czech Republic but also all over the European Union. Fear of the climate change, significant investments into the railway infrastructure and rolling stock and traffic jams have caused that the railway transport is becoming increasingly more popular. This phenomenon is seen in the long-distance and suburban transport. Nevertheless, the regional railway transport stands apart: the number of passengers decreases. Regions which are responsible for regional railway public services and which have to finance them seek to support them by purchasing new vehicles, establishing integrated regional transport systems or by setting lower fares. Is this effort reflected in the number of passengers? The aim of this paper is to identify whether the subsidy to the rolling stock purchase leads to the passenger growth in the regional railway transport. The methodology used is based on the fixed-effects model of the panel data and the analysis of descriptive statistics of variables. The results indicate that investments into the new rolling stock do not have a significant positive impact on the number of regional railway passengers. The regional railway transport is inferior goods whose demand decreases when consumer income rises. The regional railway transport and the long-distance transport are complementary goods. Investments in railway corridors can make regional transport more attractive.