This report reviews methods adopted in the United States and Canada for determining fairness and efficiency in rail markets and discusses their potential application in Mexico. It specifically examines how waybill and financial data are used in the economic regulation of railways and makes recommendations for establishing a data collection and analysis system suited to the Mexican railway system.

Mexico has transformed its loss-making national railway into profitable concessions that have invested in infrastructure and carry growing volumes of freight. Some of the provisions agreed in the concession titles regarding interconnection and competition on specific links have not, however, developed as expected. A new regulatory agency was established in 2016/17 to address this and establish the capacity for the government to intervene effectively where necessary. A top priority for the Agencia Reguladora del Transporte Ferroviario de México is to develop a data collection and analysis system to understand rail markets in relation to issues of potential abusive pricing and reasonable conditions of access.