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Bulgaria : Railways Policy NoteUnder a succession of reform-minded governments, the Bulgarian rail sector has achieved some ambitious targets-stable traffic volumes and hard-won financial stability that was endorsed by investor confidence during a recent bond issuance for EUR 120 million. Today, all Acquis Communautaires relevant to the rail sector have been adopted. Vertical unbundling of services separated public railway infrastructure from operation of railway transport services; the track access charges that were introduced opened market access to rail infrastructure and allowed cost recovery; and public service contracts were laid out to clarify government contributions to the sector. In addition, Bulgaria's substantial accomplishments in improving railway operating efficiency included reducing the State-owned railway company staff by 40 percent; creating a holding company structure with three legally independent subsidiaries and business lines-freight, passengers, and traction services. The various roles of the State in Bulgaria's rail industry- policymaker, regulator, owner, and client require a cultural change if Government is to optimize the balance among public policy choices, entity management constraints, and available fiscal space. Overcoming the railway industry's challenges will be difficult and should not be underestimated; the current financial crisis will appear to militate against immediate action in an investment-intensive sector such as infrastructure, but the railway industry in Bulgaria has never been better positioned to move forward. Postponing the completion phase of railway reform will not only squander future economic prospects through continued asset deterioration and loss of market share, but also lay waste to the past investments that have brought the country so far along in attaining today's railway market position and financial stability.
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A Review of Institutional Arrangements for Road Asset Management : Lessons for the Developing WorldThe type of institutional arrangement
 for managing roads adopted by a country depends on the
 objectives and performance that it sets for its road
 networks. This paper reviews such arrangements for selected
 countries; China, Brazil, Slovenia, New Zealand, United
 Kingdom, and the Slovak Republic. These countries have
 adopted different approaches in several dimensions, such as
 decentralization, sources of financing, management
 structure, and modal responsibility. This paper reviews main
 factors affecting the efficiency of road agencies and
 describes the steps taken in creating a new institution, or
 transforming an existing one, and assesses the effort
 required to achieve such results. In all countries reviewed,
 the ministry responsible for the transport sector remains
 the authority responsible for the overall transport policy
 and for putting in place checks and balances for good
 governance and management of fiscal risk. The main aspects
 of institutional reforms that can contribute to increase the
 efficiency of road and transport agencies include: improved
 institutional structures, separation of the client and
 supplier functions, separation of client and supplier
 organizations, privatization of the supplier organizations,
 establishment of an executive agency or a commercialized
 (client) organization, user participation through oversight
 boards, improving management information systems, and
 seeking additional sources of financing.
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The World Bank's Assistance to China's Transport SectorChina's economic development since the opening of its economy in the late 1970s has resulted in an eight percent average annual rate of economic growth. Key facets of this growth are rapidly increasing domestic and foreign trade as well as increasing personal mobility and consumption of energy. The deficiencies of the Chinese road and highway system have in particular created a bottleneck in China's economic development. The major objective of the China country assistance strategy (since the 1980s) was to alleviate infrastructure bottlenecks, in providing financial resources and promoting sector reforms in China. In 1997-98, the World Bank worked together with the Chinese government in completing a review of the transport sector and preparing an intermodal transport strategy. The strategy provides proposals for increasing competition and efficiency, identifies the changing patterns of demand for transport, and advances the analysis of investment needs of the sector and their financing.