Methodological aspects of singular and applied economics in increasing economic efficiency in railway transport enterprises

Abstract

The issue of increasing economic efficiency in railway transport enterprises has reached a level that cannot be solved within the framework of simple savings or linear logic such as “carry more”. This is because the railway system is simultaneously a capital-intensive infrastructure, a social service and a pillar of national logistics stability, in which small parameters (tariff, schedule, energy supply, cargo composition, service quality, disruptions in digital systems) can dramatically change the outcome of the entire system. That is why the integration of singular and applied economics is defined as the methodological basis from the very beginning of the work. In particular, while applied economics turns railway operations into a mechanism controlled by measurable indicators (OPEX/CAPEX, cost, profitability, wagon turnover, ton-km/passenger-km, energy consumption, service KPI), singular economics reveals exactly at what points the system leaves the traditional operating mode and enters a nonlinear state.