Do European reforms increase modal shares of railways?

The transport policy of the European Union aims to increase modal shares of railways. Its principal reform measures are vertical separation and competition entry. However, there are other possible reform strategies and it is not clear whether European reforms actually increase railway's modal shares. Based on an analysis performed on 27 European countries in the period 1995-2013, there is no evidence that vertical separation and competition entry increase modal shares of European railways. The horizontal separation of the freight and passenger division of the incumbent and subsequent privatisation of the freight division looks like a more promising strategy. There are also important structural differences between countries in Western and Eastern Europe which should be controlled for.