The railways torn between practical constraints and politics of interests

摘要

Although political measures can in gen-feral be defined as deliberate, planned action to realise certain objectives, it is the interests pursued that are the starting point for the objectives set. Hence, objectives are central to the politics of interests. They must not only be recognised at the political level if they are to be implemented, but be quantifiable right through to the service provision stage and also be sufficiently durable. In the case of the railway system, given the lengthy lives of system components, the durability must be greater than the interval between the elections for political decision-makers and holders of office.