REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – NÁRODOHOSPODÁŘSKÝ OBZOR, VOL. 14, ISSUE 2, 2014, pp. 165–194, DOI: 10.2478/revecp-2014-0009 Comparison of Urban and Suburban Rail Transport in Germany and in the Czech Republic 1 Daniel Seidenglanz, Filip Chvátal, Kateřina Nedvědová 2 Abstract: Rail transport is an environmentally friendly form of passenger transport which can be utilized effectively also in urban and suburban transport systems. The paper describes the urban and suburban rail transport system including comparison of selected Czech (Prague, Brno and Ostrava) and German metropolitan regions (Munich, Nuremberg and Dresden). Its aim is to analyze the importance of various factors influ- encing the differences between the situation in Germany and in the Czech Republic. Therefore, the research question is whether these differences are primarily caused by a different liberalization stage, or whether they are a result of other factors such as availa- ble infrastructure, investment level, rail transport services budget, structure and activity of ordering bodies and coordinators or geographical context. The supply of city and suburban rail transport is quite good in Germany and in the Czech Republic, although trains in Munich, Nuremberg and Dresden run more frequently, faster and are better interconnected with car transport. German rail transport sector is at a higher stage of liberalization, and tendering procedures are the preferred selection method for contrac- tor carriers. However, a degree of liberalization of the railway sector is not the key marker indicating a better standard of urban and suburban rail transport in Germany because it is the high standard which is achieved as the consequence of the professional activity of the ordering bodies and train service coordinators in combination with geo- graphical conditions, available financial sources and effective transport infrastructure. On the other hand, the importance of liberalization cannot be totally overlooked as ten- ders are a tool for the ordering bodies to strongly affect the price and quality of transport services in their area. The supply of better quality and attractive transport to passengers could increase the usage of rail transport in metropolitan regions and could have indirect but important socio-economic impacts. Key words: railways, urban rail transport, suburban rail transport, metropolitan region, European transport policy, liberalization, Germany, the Czech Republic JEL Classification: R41, R48 1 This paper was conceived while realizing the "Optimization of competition regulatory frame- work in freight and passenger railway transport in the Czech Republic” project No. TD010063 funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. 2 Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, seidenglanz@geogr.muni.cz, fchvatal@mail.muni.cz, 184710@mail.muni.cz