Summary - TST 5

TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES


TST 5

Ana Olmedo Gaya
Vicisitudes de la protección al ferrocarril


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Key words: Coordination Law; canon of coincidence; right to prevalence; free concurrence.

[ Abstract ]

In the 19th-century, it was unthinkable that regular roads could compete against railroads. However, during the 1920s the car industry began a process of strong competition. The Coordination Law, dated December 27th, 1947 (to coordinate railroad and roads), dedicated to the maximum protection of railroads, tries to stop the competition from road mecanic transportation over the railroad system. On one side, the law establishes a canon of coincidence, and on the other side, it establishes the right to prevalence, which is given to railroad companies on other road services which might coincide with them.
The current law, Land Transportation Regulation Law of 1987 (LOTT), has introduced a great change in this matter since both the right of coincidence and the right to prevalence are suppressed. LOTT has opted for equality and harmonization of the competiton conditions between road and railroad. It stablished the free concurrence between both means of transportation, and puts an end to the unfair settings of the previous law, which used to assigne a mere complementary function to railroads.