>>1866813Biggest factor in high rail modal split in the EU seems to be whether they were legacy Eastern bloc, followed by being Central European. And even the Baltic countries have seen marked declines in rail's market share as they socially and economically continue to converge with the more advanced economies.
Central European countries are geographically aided by lacking options for water transport, and by national-level policies to explicitly encourage rail transport at the expense of road transport. This include additional subsidies, high taxes and tolls on road transport, regulation of which kinds of goods can be shipped by road, and development of new infrastructure like the Gotthard Base Tunnel or the Netherlands' Betuwe.
