Along with Great Britain, Sweden is considered to be the most interesting example of railway reform in Europe. The vertical separation of the country's railway infrastructure from its operations in 1988 was pioneering in approach and has subsequently been used as a model for rail deregulation internationally. Sweden has also become something of a testing ground for the internationalisation of European railway and transportation companies. Illustrated with a broad range of empirical case studies, this book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date theoretical overview of all the main issues and phenomena of the step-wise regulatory reforms, including causes and effects from the mid-80s to the present day. It also provides a framework for the Swedish development from an international perspective, dealing with similar and dissimilar patterns of development in other countries.