Determinants of rail price variability in Europe under competition

European long-distance railway passenger market liberalisation is likely entering a new phase. New open-access entries have occurred, this time mainly by foreign countries' historic incumbents, and further ones have been announced, while older newcomers are gradually expanding their networks. In this more and more competitive context, this article aims to explore the factors affecting rail ticket prices that are common across European countries. An econometric analysis is performed applying an Instrumental Variable regression on a dataset looking at more than 50 long-distance intercity routes all over Europe. We investigate determinants belonging both to route-, company- and product-specific features, together with market conditions and weekly periodicity. We find that kilometric prices are influenced by many supply-side factors, often reflecting demand-related dynamics. Unitary fares decrease with the length of the trip, while the importance of the route in terms of total capacity translates into more expensive tickets. Competition and market power matter, too, represented by the market share of each operator on a specific route. Then, fares are linked to the speed advantage relative to other modes and to the type of service offered. The latter determines different levels of operating costs: faster travel, lower access charges and low-cost model strategies allow operators to offer cheaper tickets. The analysis is repeated both during pre- and post-Covid times, in 2019 and 2024, demonstrating the robustness and strength of the model as well as the persisting effect of the investigated determinants in a changing European rail market.