ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING IN RAILWAY PASSENGER TRANSPORT

Abstract

An activity-based cost-norm system and a two-part infrastructure charge for railway passenger transport are
developed to replace single network-average cost and charge figures that obscure differences across train types. The
study aims to decompose managed costs into cost-driver-specific norms, redesign the infrastructure charge base according
to the underlying cost drivers, and evaluate both approaches using actual 2025 data. Managed cost items are classified
according to four cost drivers: vehicle-kilometres, train-kilometres, seat-kilometres, and time. This classification yields traintype
coefficients ranging from 0.5 for high-speed trains to 1.0 for ordinary trains. The infrastructure charge is redesigned
as a two-part tariff comprising wear-related costs based on tonne-kilometres and capacity-occupation costs based on
train-kilometres. The results show that norm-based costing reduces the estimated cost of a sample trip by 7.8 percent compared
with the network-average method. The two-part charge lowers the full-cost break-even threshold for the domestic
route from 1.559 to 0.861, bringing it within 0.124 points of actual occupancy. For the international route, the threshold falls
below actual occupancy, shifting the route into the commercial zone. Both approaches enable costs and charges to more
accurately reflect the technological characteristics of train operations and provide a norm-based benchmark for state-order
contracting.