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Railway Concessions : Heading Down the Right Track in Argentina

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1996-09
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2012-08-13
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Argentina privatized many of its railway services by concession contract during the early 1990s. The reforms have been remarkable for their speed and innovation - despite the complexity of the issues and the lack of "off-the-shelf" models to follow at the time. The overall result has been positive. Many services have improved. Traffic has grown-up about 180 million passenger trips a year. Subsidies have been cut dramatically - down from US$2 billion or so a year to a little more that US$100 million. But as with any complex reform, there is an unfinished agenda. And with the Argentine approach becoming a model for other countries in Latin America this review of the lessons starting to emerge from the reform experience is a timely one.
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Carbajo, José; Estache, Antonio. 1996. Railway Concessions : Heading Down the Right Track in Argentina. Viewpoint: Public Policy for the Private Sector; Note No. 88. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11612 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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