In both the aviation and railway industries the NMa concludes buyers have insufficient power to negotiate terms and tariffs with the infrastructure manager. The NMa found rail operators have a weak negotiating position and concluded that current regulations are not meeting their primary purpose of empowering customers, a basic principle in the reform of rail and air transport.
In practice it appears that complaints by operators have little impact on the behaviour of the infrastructure managers, even when formally-prescribed
consulting procedures have been applied.
The NMa says it hopes the research will kick-start a debate on achieving a more balanced market, possibly enforced by the regulatory body. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure has announced it will investigate further reforms to improve the balance of power in the market and to clarify the position on negotiating tariffs.
