A Study on Contestable Regions in Europe through the Use of a New Rail Cost Function: An Application to the Hinterland of the New Container Terminal of Leghorn Port

Table 3

Comparison of the proposed cost function with similar cost functions existing in literature: namely those proposed by Grosso [20] and Baumgartner [21].

Component	Grosso	Baumgartner	The proposed cost function
Staff cost	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Not taken into account in the cost function	Two reference values for the driver cost per hour were found in literature: in Italy [29] and Germany [30]. An average of these two values (38.5 €/h) has been considered. Two drivers are necessary to operate a train in Italy, while only one driver is necessary in the rest of Europe.
Number of locomotives	Not explicitly calculated	Not explicitly calculated	Calculated in detail. The number of locomotives depends on the grade and curve resistances of each line section and it has been determined, for each rail line, from the “Operating Rules” (“Norme di Esercizio”) [31]. The operating rules used by the rail transport companies, which effectively operate the services, have been assumed.
Amortization / rental / leasing cost of a locomotive	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Calculated from an average purchase cost of a locomotive	In [30] an amortization cost in €/year, valid for locomotives specifically used for freight transport, is provided. In order to calculate the amortization cost in €/km, the number of km/year travelled by a locomotive for freight transport has been provided by Mercitalia Rail.
Maintenance cost of a locomotive	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost as suggested by [30].
Insurance cost of a locomotive	Maximum, average and minimum insurance costs are provided for the entire train and not for simply a locomotive	Not taken into account in the cost function	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost as suggested by [30].
Amortization cost of a flat wagon	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Calculated from an average purchase cost of a flat wagon	In [30] an amortization cost in €/year for a flat wagon is provided. In order to calculate the amortization cost in €/km, the km/year travelled by a flat wagon has been provided by Mercitalia Rail.
Maintenance cost of a flat wagon	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost as suggested by [30].
Insurance cost of a flat wagon	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Not taken into account in the cost function	Calculated as a percentage of the amortization cost as suggested by [30].
Handling cost at terminals	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Not taken into account in the cost function	Calculated according to the costs provided by Terminali Italia [15] and by northern European terminals, as €/load unit. The handling cost at an Italian terminal is 32.5 €/load unit and between 30 and 35 €/ITU in the rest of Europe. The total number of ITUs (Intermodal Transport Units) to be considered for each train has been collected from interviews to the main MTOs operating between Italian and northern European terminals.
Rail track cost	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Not taken into account in the cost function	Rail track costs, in €/km, have been collected for each rail line. Rail track costs are not only different from a country to another, but often also from a line to another in the same country.
Traction cost	Maximum, average, minimum values provided	Reference values have been provided for different values of line slope	It has been determined from the power consumption, in kWh/km, multiplied by the cost of electricity, in €/KWh. The power consumption has been calculated considering all resistances to motion on each line section.