La misurazione dei costi nelle aziende di trasporto ferroviario: dal costo delle attività al costo della corsa

The article analyzes the methodological characteristics which should govern the application of a cost measurement system in a company that provides rail transport services. It identifies the main distinctive features which a cost accounting system must have in order to capture the particular structure of companies operating in rail transport sector. These features basically concern the need to modify and integrate the activity-based costing system with the aim of understanding and managing the costs which have no link in terms of consumption with the activities of the service rovision process, but they do have a link with the components and infrastructures of the network. This methodology has been applied to Trentino Trasporti, a medium sized, privately owned passenger railway company operating in the Trentino/Alto Adige region. Evidence suggests that the proposed methodology allows the operational connection between the company’s costs and the clients’ consumption of them when they buy transport services to be measured. Such connection also enables the identifi cation of new opportunities for improvement and for cost optimisation.