A study by Roland Berger published by the Rail Working Group shows that 88% of all rolling stock purchased in Europe is directly or indirectly publicly funded or underwritten, so that out of an annual spend of €13.3bn, only €1.7bn is financed privately. At a time of austerity across Europe, where political leaders are agonising over how they allocate precious public resources, why do governments insist on utilising their own precious funds when these can be provided by the private sector?
