workstory.s3. · Web viewNHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences Academy for Urban Development, Logistics and Mobility Abstract This research project report describes the impact

High Speed Rail. Starting Project 2013 MOB-1


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High Speed Rail. Effects on travel behaviour and economic development Starting project 2013Group MOB-1IB International Traffic Management Year 1

Alexandros TziolisErik PetkovJelle MertensKayolan NikitovMike SchrotenThomas Geier

NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences Academy for Urban Development, Logistics and Mobility


Abstract

This research project report describes the impact of high speed rail on passenger mode choice and economic development. In order to achieve this, the major reasons for mode choice and the effect HSR implementation had were investigated.

The outcome of the mode choice investigation, between High-speed rail and other means of transport, was that travellers do prefer travelling by High-speed rail. Although traveling by High-speed rail can take longer and/or be more expensive than flying, people tend to prefer high-speed connections for a number of other advantages.

The train is seen as more comfortable, for the possibility to work and it terminals in the centre of a city. Furthermore it is seen as a safe and environmental friendly mean of transport.

The economic impact is underbuilt with a case study in Montabaur, Germany, where in 2002 a High-speed rail station has been implemented. Commuters moved houses towards Montabaur and its station in order to use the High-speed connection to work in Cologne or Frankfurt am Main. Businesses settled in the ICE-business Park next to the station. A GDP growth of 2.7% was created in a four-year period after the HSR connection was established. This growth is referable to the implementation of this station, and shows a relation between accessibility of High-speed rail and economic development.

Foreword

This report is the final result of the first year starting project Group ITR 1. The project was implemented by the Academy of Urban Development, Logistics and Mobility at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in 2013. During the project, students acquire the theoretical skills of project management and use these skills in practice during meetings and workshops in order to elaborate this report and a presentation. The project group elaborating this report consists of six NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences students:

Alexandros Tziolis, Erik Petkov, Jelle Mertens, Kayolan Nikitov, Mike Schroten and Thomas Geier.

The group was given the opportunity to choose a project topic, and it was mutually decided to investigate the development of high-speed rail in the European Union. There has been common interests in this topic, since the majority of the group are students who enrolled in the International Traffic Management course at the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. The intended target audience composes of teachers and students that will take part in the evaluation, however, the group tries to provide sufficient research, which may be useful as introduction literature for future students work on this topic

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Table of Content

Abstract.................................................................................... IIForeword...................................................................................IITable of Content.......................................................................III1. Background...........................................................................42. Introduction..........................................................................53. Existing HSR Infrastructure in Europe.....................................6

3.1. Schnellfahrstrecken – HSR in Germany...................................................................................6

3.2. Lignes á Grand Vitesse – HSR in France.................................................................................7

3.3. Lineas de Alta Velocidad – HSR in Spain.................................................................................8

3.4. Ferrovia direttissima- HSR in Italy...........................................................................................8

3.5. Hogesnelheidslijn – HSR in Belgium and the Netherlands......................................................9

4. Harmonisation of HSR Infrastructure in the EU......................105. Customer related effects of HSR...........................................11

5.1. Travel Time and Pricing........................................................................................................11

5.2. Environment, Safety and Comfort........................................................................................14

5.3. Survey: Why to choose HSR..................................................................................................17

6. The economic impact...........................................................186.1. The City of Montabaur before the construction of the HSL..................................................19

6.2. Montabaur – A High Speed Success story.............................................................................20

7. Conclusion..........................................................................248. Recommendation.................................................................26Source directory........................................................................VPictures and Figures................................................................VIIAppendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..VIII

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1. Background

High-speed rail (HSR) describes a mean of transport consisting of track vehicles, which are specially designed and built for the operation with high -speeds of more than 230 km/h on specially modified or completely new build track lines which allow the operation with high speeds.

High-speed lines (HSL) describes two types of railroads. Upgraded rail lines that have been modified for Speeds of 230 km/h or more and new built lines that have been designed for Speeds of more than 250 km/h. The second of those require a lot of engineering structures which makes the construction of those rather expensive.

High-speed train (HST) describes a track vehicle that is designed for the operation with high speeds of more than 230 km/h. Characteristic for these trains are special sound protection and pressurized cabins to keep a high level of comfort with high speeds.

This research focuses on High-speed rail (HSR) Systems in the European Union. There are five different types of High-speed Trains used in the area which is concerned in the investigation.

The Intercity-Express (ICE) is a High-speed Train invented by Siemens SE. It is mainly used in Germany and its surrounding countries. ICEs are operated by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), International connections are operated in cooperation with the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).

The Train á grade vitesse (TGV) is a High-speed Train invented by Alstom and was the first High-speed Train in commercial use in Europe. It is mainly used in France and it’s surrounding countries by the operator SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français). International connections are operated in cooperation with DB and SBB CFF SSF (Swiss Railways). High-speed Trains on the Base technical base of the TGV have been sold all over the world.

The Thalys (THA) is a High-speed Train based on the TGV. It is mainly used in the Be-Ne-Lux area (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg) and surroundings. The Thalys is owned and operated by the SNCF, the SNCB (Société National de Chemins de Fer Belge) and the DB.

The Eurostar (ES) is a High-speed Train based on the TGV and only used for connections from London to Paris and Brussels, using the Eurotunnel. The Eurostar is owned by the company Eurostar, shares of this are held by SNCF and British Rail.

Alta Velocidad Espanola (AVE) describes a HSR Service in Spain, operated by Renfe. For the AVE service, several types of High-speed Trains are used.

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2. Introduction

High-speed Train connections are a fast and ecologically friendly mean of transport using an impressive technology. Trains that cover hundreds of kilometres of distance in view hours travelling with up to 320 km/h seem to face increasing over the world.

In Europe, existing High-speed Rail Infrastructure counts 6.830 kilometres of track at the moment. (Considering that one kilometre of High-speed Line costs between 15 and 30 million Euro in construction, an amount higher than 136 billion Euro has so far been spent in Europe’s High-speed Train infrastructure. (Glover, 2009, pp. 64-69)

These massive investments in High-speed Rail infrastructure are usually government funded, either by the national states themselves or by the European Union. Private investments can be part of the financing as well, however, this happens usually in the form of Public Private Partnership programs, since the construction and maintenance cost are enormous. Although railway companies pay a considerable fee for the use of the infrastructure, operating a HSL is mostly a loss making business and the return on investment is poor. (Bös (FAZ), 2012) Most of the infrastructure is therefore subsidized by the normal tax payer, either in direct investment or interest free loans for network operators and constructors. It seems impressive that these huge amounts of money are spent in a transport system, although there is hardly any information available on the effects this system has on its environment. This study tries to investigate these effects and aims to give an idea about whether the massive investment in High-speed rail infrastructure in Europe is justified. In order to evaluate this, research on the direct and indirect effects of HSR needs to be carried out. A direct effect of a High-speed Rail connection is the reduction of travel time. An indirect effect could be the settlement of companies due to better accessibility.

New High-speed investments are mostly justified with decreasing travel times and facilitation of travel by reducing resistance. This study should determine whether there are other positive effects of HSR which can be taken in consideration with future HSR projects.

This research focuses on the travel behaviour of passengers, especially on reasons for mode choice and on the impact of High-speed Rail on economic development and seeks to answer the following question:

How does High-speed Rail effect travel behaviour and economic development?

In order to achieve considerable outcome, this question has been subdivided into the following parts of research:

To what extent is HSR Infrastructure existing in Europe? What are possible advantages for travellers? Do people choose for High-speed connections for specific reasons? Does HSR create competition with other means of transport? Can economic development be related to the presence of HSR infrastructure?

Literature research on HSR Infrastructure, mode choice and economic development has been carried out to find considerable answers to these questions.To collect information on mode choice, especially to find out specific reasons for which travellers decide to book a High-speed Train ticket and not fly to a destination, a small survey has been undertaken.

With regard to the investigation of the economic impacts, a case study, based on literature research, was performed. It describes the developments that occurred in the small German City of Montabaur after a High-speed station has been implemented there for political prestige only.

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3. Existing HSR Infrastructure in Europe

High-speed lines (HSL) are a safe, fast, comfortable and ecological mode of transport for the European people. A high-speed train is able of reaching over 230 km/h on upgraded conventional rails and of over 250 km/h on dedicated High-speed lines. Nowadays, speeds of 360 km/h can be easily reached by modern high-speed trains operating on the newly constructed lines. New systems are constantly developing, especially in terms of rolling stock, technological innovation and infrastructure. Here an overview of the existing infrastructure in Western Europe is provided in order to get the reader more familiarized with the subject of High-speed rail travel.

3.1.Schnellfahrstrecken – HSR in Germany Since the beginning of Germany's high-speed rail service - the Intercity-Express (ICE), shortly after France launched its TGV system, it has become one of the most preferred transformational modes for business and tourismtravel in Germany.(FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung 11 July 2001 )

Using Deutsche Bahn's high-speed trainsystem - the ICE, (predominantly running in Germany and some of its surrounding countries), between Frankfurt and Cologne is a popular choice with both tourism and business travelers. Since the travel time is only onehourlong it is not hard to see why. In 2002, a new HSLwith a length of 177 km was built between Frankfurt and Cologne.This has reduced the journey time between the two cities significantly. Due to the track's steep gradient of -4%, which is the highest on a HSL in Europe. Important technical innovations were applied by engineers for the construction of this line. For example, the tracks were laid on concrete slabs, rather than on ballast, and the magnetic (eddy current) brakes are used by the trains. Two of the most urbanized regions in Germany (Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main), with 15 million people population are linked by this unique railway infrastructure.(High-speed Europe, European commission 2010)The ICE type 3, which is the only train capable and therefore certified to run on this line, due to its steep gradient, covers this section of the track at speeds of up to 300 km/h.The A3 motorway is situated directly adjacent to the high-speed track so that when the train passengers look out of the window, they can appreciate the speed at which they are travelling.

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HSR Lines in Europe

(wikimedia, 2013)


3.2.Lignes á Grand Vitesse – HSR in FranceThe TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) is France's high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the national rail operator. (www.tgv.com)

The North HSL, which links Paris to the Belgian border and to the Channel Tunnel through Lille opened in 1993 and has a length of 333km. Speeds of up to 300km/h can be reached by trains in commercial service. This fact has considerably improved rail journey times between Paris, Lille and Brussels. Because of the extension of this line northwards to Belgium and the United Kingdom and southwards, via the HSL InterconnexionEst, it is a key link in the European high-speed rail network. Lille sits now at the crossroads of Europe in the centre of the Brussels–London–Paris triangle. That’s why the city is one of the main winners from this project. Euralille(an urban quarter in the centre of Lille, strategically located at the intersection of the high-speed railway lines) has become the third biggest business centre in France in just over a decade. (High-speed Europe, European commission 2010)

Thalys TGVs serve also Amsterdam and Cologne running on a combination of ordinary and high-speed tracks. London is served by Eurostar trains running on the High-speed 1 line which is connected to Lille.

United Kingdom and France are connected by the Channel Tunnel (also referred to as “la Manche”). It has a length of 50.5 km beginning from Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom and ending in Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. Eurostar passenger trains are carried by the tunnel as well as international freight trains and the Euro shuttle which is designed for vehicles.

Over 13,000 workers were involved in the project which was estimated to cost $3.6 billion but in fact the price came to be over $15 billion when it was finished.

Although it is one of the most expensive transport facilities in Europe it is used by millions of passengers and many freight companies each year which has a significant impact on the tourism and business in both countries.(www.eurotunnel.com)

3.3.

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Existing and projected HSR in France (Wikimedia, 2013)


3.4.Lineas de Alta Velocidad – HSR in SpainOn 21 April 1992 opened the first Spanish high-speed railway connection from Seville to Madrid. Travel time between these two major cities was reduced in half. In the beginning it took 2:45 hours for the journey without stopping and 2:55 hours with stops at Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Córdoba. (www.ferropedia.es/wiki/LAV_Madrid_-_Sevilla)

In February 2008 the Madrid–Barcelona HSL was finished and the service of high-speed rail in Spain, operated by Alta Velocidad Española (AVE, or Spanish High-Speed)started operating on it. The journey time between the two cities was reduced from 7 hours on a Talgo (Goicoechea-Oriol light articulated train used for intercity journeys) in 1996 to 2 hours 38 minutes using the new 621 km line. In time, this line will be extended towards France via the Perpignan–Figueras cross-border tunnel, which links Spain to the trans-European HSL network. Also the Madrid-Barcelona line would relieve the pressure on the saturated air traffic between the two cities. After a year in service, 40 % of the traffic between Madrid and Barcelona was captured by RenfeOperadora(Red Nacional de FerrocarrilesEspañoles).(30 January 2009 www.structurae.de)

3.5. Ferrovia direttissima- HSR in ItalyItaly’s service provider of high-speed trains is Trenitalia and as of April 2012 - NuovoTrasportoViaggiatori (NTV).

The Italian High-speed rail network consists of several lines connecting the country’s major cities. This helps people from all over Italy to travel faster from one region to another.(www.railway-technology.com/projects/italy)

One of most popular routes chosen by tourists and business travellers is Turin–Milan–Naples: linking south and north

The Direttissima, which was the first Italian HSL line and the beginning of the Italian HSL network, between Florence and Rome was inaugurated in 1977 and extended in 2005-2006 with the Rome-Naples and Turin-Novara lines. The Milan–Bologna and Naples–Salerno lines were opened in 2008, increasing the AV/AC (Alta velocità/Alta capacità) network to over 900 km. This has since become the backbone of the transport network is the Italian HSR system, linking southern and northern Italy, with motorway connections at numerous points. It also can be considered as a part of the south-north rail corridor which links Palermo and Berlin. Therefore it is a top priority project under the trans-European transport network program.(High-speed Europe, European commission 2010)

Frecciargento (formerly known as Eurostar Italia): approx. 1 h 30 min. InterCity: approx. 3 hours Regional train: 3 h 30 min

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LAV network in Spain(Wikimedia,2013)


The two of Italy's most beloved cities are separated by just a short train ride. In Florence one can see the extraordinary architecture of the Il Duomo and also enjoy the magnificent Renaissance art from the likes of Michaelangelo. The city of Rome is a mix of cosmopolitan cool and ancient relics– one can visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum, as well as the tiny sovereign city-state, Vatican City.(www.eurail.com)

3.6.Hogesnelheidslijn – HSR in Belgium and the Netherlands Thalys High-speed train: approx: 1 h 55 min. InterCity Amsterdam Centraal - Den Haag HS/Rotterdam Centraal: 40min InterCity Den Haag HS/Rotterdam Centraal - Brussels Central: 2hours/1hours 40 min

One can leave Amsterdam’s fascinating canals and cobbled lanes and travel to the administrative centre of many international organizations-Brussels in just under two hours..(www.eurail.com)

The distance between these two capital cities consists of 87 km on the Belgian HSL 4, which connects Antwerp to the Dutch HSL-Zuid at the border (47 km) and then continues 125 km to Rotterdam, Schiphol airport and then ending at Amsterdam centraal. It was mostly completed in 2007 but the opening of the line was delayed till December 2009 due to problems with signalling.(07.10.2013 http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=p0000102)

Currently the whole line between Brussels and Amsterdam is only used by Thalys International (PBA & PBKA trains), which is a joined venture between the main European high-speed rail operators (its capital is divided up between SNCF (62%), NMBS/SNCB (28%) and Deutsche Bahn (10%)). (https://www.thalys.com/fr/en/about-thalys/presentation)

Although the Dutch national (NS Hispeed) high-speed rail train service, the Fyra is operational on the HSL-Zuid (between Breda and Amsterdam), at the moment Traxx F140 MS2 trains are using it at top speeds of 160 km/h (instead of the initially planned V250 high-speed trains because of legal issues with the manufacturer - AnsaldoBreda).(www.railjournal.com, 2013)

Nowadays we are able to distinguish seven countries in Western Europe with a national focus on HSR development. A more in depth investigation, of the certain country's policies and infrastructure, in detail was not conducted. Since the aim of this chapter is to give examples and therefore a general idea of the HSR network in Western Europe.

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High Speed Lines in the Be-Ne-Lux (wikimedia, 2013)


4. Harmonisation of HSR Infrastructure in the EU

There are currently different technical standards on the HSL European network, therefore this generates significant extra risk and costs. Some of these include the different gauge width on selected (few) lines and the fact that the various systems currently in use differ in voltage usage in separate regions/countries. An example of this is the AVE network in Spain, which uses standard gauge and is dedicated to high-speed trains only since these lines are different from the rest of their respective networks in Spain. These differences could seriously affect the interoperability of the whole HSL European network so a further development of a unified system should be made.

The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a railway traffic control, signalling and train protection system developed to replace the safety systems currently used by European railways, which are incompatible with each other, especially on High-speed lines.

The European Union recognized the need for a homogenous railway safety and signalling system in the early nineties, when two EU directives were issued. (European Union directive: Directive 1996/96/48/EC99/)All high-speed trains in the European Union are required to adopt the ETCS and many non-EU networks have implemented it as well. At this moment only certain corridors have been adopted for ETCS. Trains running on these lines must therefore be equipped to run on both ETCS lines and classic lines.ETCS uses a standardized controller inside the train cabin, which communicates with the trackside equipment outside the train. The driver of the train receives all the information he needs electronically. One of the advantages of this system is that trackside signalling systems are obsolete, since at high-speed the information provided by these systems would not be seen or assimilated by the driver. For all four levels of system autonomy the train's instruments compare the speed of the train with the maximum permitted speed and slows down (or even stops) the train automatically if the latter is exceeded ('ERTMS in 10 questions', European Railway Agency.PDF)In conclusion we could determine that the HSLs have a huge potential in terms of safe mobility throughout the continent and could still be improved vastly. That is why the European Union is promoting a pan-European HSL network. In order to do so, it is issuing common technical and quality standards for all Member States. It is also establishing a framework for the development and implementation of standardized tools. It is being assisted in this by the European Railway Agency (ERA), the body responsible for helping to integrate the European rail networks by improving rail safety and allowing trains to cross borders within the EU without having to stop or slow down.

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5. Customer related effects of HSR

5.1. Travel Time and PricingThere are several ways to travel to a destination nowadays and everybody makes its own decision on which mean of transport to use. According to the “Nieuwe HSL-nota, deelrapport 13, 1994” there are nine factors on which people base their decision to travel with a certain mean of transport. The focus in this research lies on five of them;

Travel time Price Safety Comfort Ecology

During this research the favourite means of transport for commuters was investigated, to find out if there is an interest in High-speed Rail for commuters.

When one considers traveling by high-speed rail or by air, there are many indications that will show that the total amount of time and money spent on air travel can, in fact, be more than the total amount spent on high-speed rail travel.

This graph shows that for the average distances ranging from 150 kilometres to almost 800 kilometres; High-speed rail is faster than the airplane, however, from 800 kilometres an hour, the plane is faster. For this scheme the average door-to-door journey time is used, this is the actual time it takes from the moment a traveller started his journey until he arrived at your destination. For the plane there is a 3,5 hour time range before the graph starts making kilometres. This time is reserved for travel to the airport, Check in, luggage drop off, security check, boarding time and time from the airport to the final destination. For the train this is between 1,5 hour to 2 hours. This includes travel time to the train station, buying a ticket, boarding, possible train changes and travel time to the final destination. (European commission, High Speed rail, 2011, p27.)

With the High-speed train connection it takes 1:22 hours to get to Paris (nshighspeed.nl, 2013). Between Brussels and Paris a car ride is almost 3 hours, furthermore, there are no more flights available from KLM and Air France in between those cities, as those respective airlines book high speed rail tickets for travellers.

(Website of KLM, 3 November, 2013) For the travellers this is more convenient than to fly less than an hour from Brussels to Paris and lose a lot of time at the airport. What the real distance is where the plane is faster than High-speed rail depends on the existing train and flying schedule,

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Comparison of travel times (European commission, High Speed rail, 2011, p27.)


the infrastructure for the High-speed train, the maximum speed of the High-speed train, the amount of stations in between and the distance a person is away from the airport of station. (Nieuwe HSL-nota, 1994)

While high-speed rail stations are almost always located within or in close proximity to city centres, airports are located much further away from the cities.

The table below illustrates some examples for the difference in travel time and the ticket pricing between the train and plane purchased one week before the departure. With both train and air travel average total journey time.

Round-trip ticket prices to selected cities purchased one week in advance (Non-European cities were left out as our specific question is defined withinEurope)

We determined the average total journey time, here we included the average time to get to the airport, the chart below shows the access times and cost from city centres to the airports using public transport in each city. When there are multiple airports in a city, the major airport is used

The London-Paris routes use the Charles De Gaulle airport. With regard to journey time, public transit distance for both cities are combined for their respective routes. This does not include airtime or time spent at the airport. (Reason Foundation, 2013, p.17)

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* Plane trip includes stop or change of planes Data: RailEurope, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Easyjet, Air France, Iberia Airlines (Reason Foundation, 2013, p20(for columns Travel Cities, Distance Kilometres, Travel-time, price train round trip, price plane round trip only)

Travel distance

Distance Kilometres

Travel-time (hours: minutes)

Price train round trip (€)

Price plane round trip (€)

Estimated total journey time

Paris-Lyon 424 2:10 train 1:10plane 135 119 3:40 train

4:40plane

Madrid-Barcelona 621

3:00 train 252 105

4:30 train 1:15 plane 4:45 plane

Paris-London 3442:20 train

148 793:50 train

1:15 plane 4:45 plane

Paris-Marseille 661

3:15 train187 88

4:45 train1:15 plane 4:45 plane

Paris(-Brussels)- Amsterdam

5163:20 train

117 2114:50 train

1:15 plane 4:45 plane

Naples-Florence 410

2:50 train76 287

4:20 train3:05 plane 6:35 plane


Figure 2.8

(Davies-Gleave, 2006, p18)

This analyses show that the air travel is, in some cases, is more convenient than other means of transport. The distance the actual airport is away from the centre differs a lot. For example London-Paris is 4.3 times more expensive than the Madrid-Barcelona route, and the total surface journey time is 3.4 times longer. (Davies-Gleave, 2006, p18)

For these routes mentioned above, another reason many travellers choose to take the high-speed rail is because of the higher frequency than airlines for those respective routes; here is a graph to exemplify that.

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(Davies-Gleave, 2006, p14)

This chart contrasts the frequency of each type of operators for certain European routes. This stat is made in 2006 and the direction Frankfurt-Cologne and Madrid-Barcelona has been changed during these years. Since 2007 there are no flights available anymore between Frankfurt and Cologne, and since 2013 there are 25 High-speed trains (AVE) between Madrid and Barcelona. (Website of Renfe, October 17, 2013).

According to a special report by Louise Southerden written on the Sydney Morning Herald, she compared the air and high-speed rail travel on the route from Paris to Amsterdam.

The costs she listed for the flight of Air France from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Amsterdam Schiphol is €363,- economy class, €706,- for business class; while for the Thalys High-speed rail second class ticket it was listed as €82,- or €92,- for first class ticket.(Southerden,2011)

5.2.Environment, Safety and ComfortSome policy makers in the EU believe that rail; specifically high-speed rail is the most efficient and “attractive” means to benefit the interurban and interregional transport, especially for passengers. There are some cases where because of the capacity problems with air and road travel, rail emerges as the best alternative.

In France, capacity issues in aviation were essential for the development of the high-speed rail projects. The emergence of the TGV brought a significant capacity shift from air to rail (domestic air traffic in France declined 7% between 2000 and 2007, mostly due to the increased use of TGV connections. Speed rail requires separate installations from airplanes and conventional trains; it liberates space for more rail freight and passenger rail.

According to the Eurostar and Thalys website, the 82% of all trains arrive within 5 minutes of their scheduled arrival time and 92% of trains arrive within 15 minutes of their schedules arrival time. The other trains are delayed due to unforeseeable circumstances, such as extreme weather (Website of Eurostar, 19 October, 2013)

In 2011 on European flights 27,6 minutes was the average delay time on all European flights, 37,1% of all departures was delayed. This means that more than one third of all planes allow an average of almost being 28

minutes late.

(European commission, pocketbook, 2012, p56)

Another factor some travellers take in consideration when people decide how to travel is the safety of the trip. The feeling of safety and the actual safety is often not the same. People usually feel safer in a train than in the air, this is only the feeling of safety because if we look at the average amount of fatal accidents, the airplane scores higher. With the train this is 62 people in whole 2010, this does not include people run over by trains. Only six were killed on board an EU carrier which was flying over EU territory, in 2010 (High speed rail, European commission, 2011, p33)

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So we can conclude that, according to the European Commission statistics the train has the least amount of fatal accidents, followed by the airplane.

Silverrail Technologies, an American train operator, had a survey in 2011 with about 300 West European and American citizens. “Eighty-six percent of the respondents said they would accept having the entire time from door-to-door be longer to avoid the process of checking in, security and boarding, and 66 percent said they would willingly add an hour or more of total travel time to their trip to avoid the hassles of long lines, airport security and baggage fees.” An airport is seen as very stressful, and the personal space a person has in an airplane is limited. Getting on a train and being on a train is therefore often seen as a more relaxed and comfortable way of travelling. (website of Silverrail Technologies, 22 October, 2011)

One of the advantages travellers mentioned was the amount of flexibility the train provides. People can enter a train station when they want and are free to enter the train. When travelling by train, people should be at the airport at least half an hour before the plane leaves, and if you miss it you have to buy another ticket. With several train operators, you do not have a train number on your ticket, which means you can take a train later or earlier, and you do not have to check in your luggage. This way you can decide to bring something more, without being charged for it or being forced to hand it in. It gives people freedom to change the journey after booking the trip.

For longer distances High-speed rail takes more time than flying. This increase of travel time can be compensated by the increase of flexibility for example working on the train. In a High-speed train there are a lot of opportunities to work during your journey. Traveling by train means that one is travelling on lower speeds than flying, but that the actual time travelling will increase. This makes the train an effective mean of transport for travellers who want to use their travel time to work, study or just relax.

Another reason why it is suitable to work on a High-speed train, is the service level. On several High-speed train connections there are WIFI hotspots and power plugs available. Because the High-speed train provides some useful services and is rather quiet it provides a good atmosphere to work. (website of rail-team services, 10 October, 2013)

Another group of travellers uses the High-speed rail because it is the greenest mean of transport according to them. There have been a lot of studies about the question if High-speed rail is an environmental friendly way of traveling. Although there are some doubts if this is really true, as Erik Morric writes in a project responding on the plans to build a new High-speed rail line in England. At the start of his report he descripted that a lot of researchers forget to take the built of the line in account, he wrote: ” When the emissions spewed by all those earth movers, tunnel boring machines, bulldozers, trucks, cranes, etc. are taken into account, the carbon advantage for HSR vis a vis air travel largely evaporates” (website of science direct, 30 October, 2011) So the construction of a High-speed rail line affects the environment much more than an airport, but the emission per kilometre per passenger is much lower traveling by train (International union of railways, carbon footprint, 2011, p22-25)

An American ecology site made a report about the bird mortality by High-speed trains. The affect a fast moving vehicle can have on animals is high. Birds are not used to objects moving towards them with a speed of 300 kilometres per hour. (Impact of railroad on wildlife, Van de Grift, 10 October, 2011) This shows that there are much more aspects concerning environment than just CO²emission. Ecotransit, a German company, working together with other European

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cargo carriers and the International Union of Railways, distinguishes nine categories. We just focused on the emission.

The reason the report focuses on the emission level of High-speed Rail, is that railway companies use this as a reference to show how environmentally friendly travelling by train is. Travellers are affected by that and use the emission as an ecology reference. The stat below shows the CO2 different means of transport use on average, including the operation and construction emission. With this information we can compare the High-speed train and air travel on the several aspects.

(International union of railways, carbon footprint of high speed rail, 2011, p24)

As one can see in the footprint of the stat above, the emission is depended on the way the energy is produced, the load factor (utilization of the train) and the intensity in which the track is being used. The figure shows that in use HSR is greener than the car or the airplane, although this depends on the situation. The actual number do not even really matter, because people are convinced by railway companies it is the greenest mean of transport, and that is influencing their choice, not the actual number.

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5.3.Survey: Why to choose HSRTo get an idea for the reasons that people travel by high-speed rail, Saturday the 2 nd of November, the members of the project travelled to Brussels-midi station, to conduct a small survey on people travelling by high-speed rail. Travellers were asked for their origin of the journey, their final destination and their motivation to traveller by high-speed rail.

The Brussels-midi station was chosen because it is one of the main high-speed rail hubs in Western Europe, where hopefully people would travel for different distances and different motivations.

The Goal was to find people travelling for different distances and so with different motivations.

One hundred people have answered the survey and the percentages are not representative. The aim of the survey is to get a general idea about why people choose high-speed rail, not to give numbers about certain travel routes or percentages.

The survey had questions for travellers who took the TGV, Thalys, ICE and Eurostar. In the survey five different answers were given; people considered high-speed rail being the cheapest, the fastest, the most environmental friendly, the mean of transport, which gives the most comfort, or it was considered being the safest.

For the line between Brussels and Paris (short distance) the travel time and comfort, especially the flexibility, were considered the most important. For longer distances comfort, working during the travel and price were mentioned the most. This was taken into consideration as the answers could be linked to some of the sources for this project.

The survey results can be found in appendix 1.

Implementing and operating a High-speed rail system (HSR) is initially more expensive; however, there are higher numbers of advantages tied with high-speed rail than air travel: such as a higher frequency rate and less delay time. Customers are more willing to pay more for high-speed travel despite the preliminary costs associated with high-speed rail; cleaner emissions, fewer delays, a higher sense of safety, comfort for the commuters/passengers and lastly less time spent arriving at the HSR terminal than travelling to the airport. Because of these factors, the advantages of High-speed rail can make a convincing argument for commuters/passengers to take High-speed rail.

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Brüssels, Gare de Midi (http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7203/6972730573_41f38660bb.jpg)


6. The economic impact

In the following chapter, the more indirect effects of High-speed rail will be concerned. The focus lies on the economic development after the installation of a High-speed Rail link.

The location of High-speed Rail Lines is usually defined by the economic strength of a region. The strongest economic agglomerations are connected with each other, since a high demand of connections between successful agglomerations can be expected. This means, that the Cities and areas which are successful and important get connected to the lines, and therefore the train system, first. This demand driven procedure of implementing the system makes it very difficult to determine in which way the region is affected, since, in big agglomerations, many different factors take part in the formation of economic development. Therefore it is not possible to detangle the effects of a High-speed Rail line to the regions development. In other words, it is not possible to find out what would have happened to the region in the absence of the line. Furthermore must be considered, that the largest agglomerations are usually already connected, using other means of transport. Due to this competition, the measurable effects of the accessibility of a High-speed Rail system might be too small to measure. (Ahlfeldt & Feddersen, 2010, p. 3)

The ideal case needed for an investigation on the indirect impacts of HSR lines is therefore a peripheral area which does not show a particular economic dynamic. These cases, however, are not easy to find, since the connection of such areas makes hardly any economic sense for railway operation with high speeds and run counter to the actual aim of the installation: cutting travel times between important agglomerations. (Ahlfeldt & Feddersen, 2010, p. 4)

A case where a High-speed station what built in an area without big economic dynamics, against all economic sense can be found in western Germany on the High-speed Rail line connecting the Rhein/Main region with the major Cities of Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden with the City of Cologne and further with the Rhein/Rhur area.

This High-speed Train line was opened in 2002 and is built for Passenger trains only which travel with speeds of 300 km/h between Frankfurt Airports Long Distance Train Station and the City of Cologne. The line was built close to the Autobahn 3 Highway and makes use of 30 Tunnels and 18 Bridges in order to overcome the mountain ridges of Westerwald and Taunus. The Line is with 4% gradient one of the steepest railroad lines in Europe, therefore the only train type that is licensed for passenger traffic on it is the ICE3 High-speed Train. With the new High-speed link, travel times between the Cities of Frankfurt and Cologne could be reduced by 55% compared to the old train connection and 35% compared to car usage. With this new Line, Frankfurt Airport, one of the top three busiest airports in the European Union, was directly connected to the High-speed train system. (Ahlfeldt & Feddersen, 2010, p. 4) Also the Airport of Cologne/Bonn and the City of Bonn, former Capital of West-Germany, were connected to the line (Bonn is connected with the station Siegburg/Bonn, from where the public transport system can be used in order to reach the Center). Most important for this investigation, however, is not the link of the Cities or the airports. Far more important for this research is the installation of two Stations between Frankfurt Airport and Siegburg/Bonn. The Cities of Limburg an der Lahn and Montabaur, both small Cities along the train track, got connected with two High-speed Stations.

These two stations were topic of big discussion in the late 1990s during the planning phase of the HSR project. Nearly all railway experts as well as the planners of the Deutsche Bahn railway corporation, which both builds and operates the tracks in Germany, as well as the train services on the majority of German railroads, considered the implementation of these two stations as

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absurd. Especially the fact, that the two stations are located very close to each other, in a distance of not even 20 kilometres, was the most important reason for the Operator Deutsche Bahn to not built a train station in Montabaur. The station in Limburg was more accepted, since there were plans to introduce express busses which would have linked the station with the City of Koblenz in the Rhine valley. Also the fact of Limburg with its 46.000 inhabitants being the cultural and economic centre of the eastern part of the federal state of Hessen, contributed to the decision of installing a High-speed train station in Limburg an der Lahn. Montabaur on the other hand, is a small City in the mountain ridge of Westerwald which only counts about 12.000 inhabitants. (Sorge (Spiegel), 2007)

The two High-speed train stations in the small Cities have in the end been build, not for economic reasons but for political. The governments of the two German federal states of Hessen and Rheinland Pfalz, the states in which the majority of the line is situated, together with local politicians, wanted to create benefits of the project for the regions where it is built through. Hessen wanted the implementation of a station in Limburg an der Lahn and because of this, Rheinland Pfalz also wanted to benefit in order to be able to compete. Therefore the Government of Rheinland Pfalz insisted on the construction and would have refused to positively vote for the whole project in the federal chamber of the German parliament. The whole procedure could be reffered to as political extortion making it an easy decision for the other parties in the planning process: Either a HSR line with a station in Montabaur or no HSR line between Cologne and Frankfurt at all. (Sorge (Spiegel), 2007)

With the fact that the station of Montabaur was introduced for political reasons only, it becomes the perfect precedent for our project research. The installation was followed by a very controversial discussion in Germany. Because of this, a lot of information has been published, which now contributes to our research. The economy in this area has not shown major dynamics before the implantation of the station. Changes in the local economic development can therefore more or less directly be linked to the new High-speed Rail Connection. (Ahlfeldt &

Feddersen, 2010, p. 4) 6.1.The City of Montabaur before the construction of the HSL

This short Chapter provides information about the City of Montabaur before the ICE connection was introduced, as well as the expectations of Deutsche Bahn as operator of the line.

There has been lots of doubts about the installation of the Montabaur station. As mentioned above, the station of Limburg an der Lahn and Montabaur are only 20 kilometres apart from each other. Crossing this distance only takes 9 minutes.

The planners thought it is economically unreasonable to have the ICE trains stop in Limburg and accelerate again to the designed line speed of 300 kilometres per hour for nine minutes in order to start the braking process for the Montabaur station. The ICE 3, which is the only train that is licensed to operate on this HSR line brakes in 120 seconds from 300 km/h to zero. (Wille (FAZ), 2003) The stops in Limburg an der Lahn and Montabaur cause the travel time to rise by 20 minutes, compared to a train riding without stop between Frankfurt Airport and Siegburg/Bonn. (Storbeck (Handelsblatt), 2010)

The demand of High-speed Rail connections at the station of Montabaur was estimated to 300 travellers per day by Deutsche Bahn. This very low amount questioned the economic value of the station in both, operating and building costs.

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Deutsche Bahn, however, was committed to operate the stations and had to guarantee to have one ICE stop per hour for five Years until 2007. After that time period, the actual demand should have been used to determine the frequency of connections.

“The decision was made like this [by the governments], now we need to live with it”. (Wille (FAZ), 2003) This description reviews the low expectations and the overall bad opinion the operating company had in that time.

This negative opinion is also expressed in scientific literature. “High-Speed Rail: Lessons for Policy Makers from Experiences Abroad” a study about the impact of stations in areas without high economic dynamics, shows, how the French city of Macon, about 75 kilometres in the north of Lyon, suffered from the installation of the TGV High-speed Train System. The research finally shows that “The largest cities in the network might receive limited gains, but this is not the case for intermediate cities, which might see economic activities being drained away and suffer an overall negative impact”. (Albalate & Bel, 2010, p. 12; 26) Considering all the mentioned negative aspects of a HSR station in areas with a low economic dynamic, one might come to the conclusion that the connection of those areas to a HSR system could end in a disastrous economic situation for both, the City and the rail operator.

The actual impact of the installation of the station in Montabaur differs, however, a lot from the expectations the planners had beforehand.

6.2.Montabaur – A High-speed Success storyThe High-speed Rail Link from Frankfurt Airport to Cologne has been operated for about 11 Years now. More than 32.000 people travel each day on the tracks of this High-speed link using the fast ICE connections. (Wille (FAZ), 2003)

In these eleven years the Cities of Montabaur and Limburg an der Lahn faced major changes. The above mentioned estimated numbers of travellers using the new implemented ICE stations were exceeded by far from the actual numbers of the last decade.

For the station of Montabaur in particular, an amount of 300 travellers per day was projected. In Spring 2003, not even one year after the station was opened, a number of more than 1100 travellers was counted each day. This number was outperformed by 2000 travellers in 2004. In 2006, the two millionth traveller was counted, at this time 35 ICE trains stopped in Montabaur daily. Between 2011 and 2012 this number rose again by 3,5 %. Nowadays there are even direct international ICE connections to Brussels and Amsterdam. (Kieserg (NNP), 2012)

More than two thirds of the travellers in Montabaur are travelling for business purpose or use the ICE as a mean for commuting to the metropolis of Frankfurt and Cologne.

The new High-speed connections brought a massive decrease in travel times. The entire journey from Frankfurt to Cologne takes now less than one hour, which is 55% less than the train

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An ICE in the station of Montabaur (Bahnbilder.de, 2013)


journey on the old track along the Rhine and 35% less than car usage between the two Cities. From Montabaur, the main stations of both, Frankfurt am Main and Cologne can be reached in about half an hour, using the new ICE link.

This leaded to a great influx of people working in Frankfurt, the Rhine-Main region or in the area around Cologne. It is now possible to live in the nice countryside of the Westerwald mountains but work in the Financial Metropolis of Frankfurt.

For Montabaur this influx results in an enormous demand in real estate, construction business was and still is booming. Property prices rose by more than 80% between 1996 and 2006, whereas prices in other regions which were not exposed to variation in accessibility only rose by about 35%. (Sorge (Spiegel), 2007) These prices, however, are still relatively low compared to the real estate markets in big German agglomeration zones like the Rhine-Main region in which Frankfurt am Main can be found. In this area, property prices lower than 400 Euro per square metre can hardly be found. Comparing this with prices in Montabaur which are currently on a level of about 250 Euro per square meter, it appears to be a better choice settling in the Westerwald region for both, private housing and businesses. (Numbers: immobilien.de, 2013) For the second, also the factor of lower company tax could a factor in the decision making process.

When the decision of building the Montabaur High-speed Train Station was final, the municipality of the City invested in the direct surrounding of the station.

A new business park called ‘ICE-park’ has been introduced. This required new infrastructure, such as new roads, bridges and electric and water supply. Furthermore a new highway exit was build, to facilitate the accessibility of the new business area and the commuter parking zones, which can be found between the station and the highway. The municipality was very conscious about the appealing of the new areas so a recreational area was designed, which includes an artificial creek, the Aubachsee. (Stadt Montabaur, 2013)

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Map of the ICE Business Park Montabaur (Stadt Montabaur,2013)


Nowadays, the ICE-park consists of 65 companies. One of the first businesses to settle was the United Internet AG, one of Europe’s biggest Internet service providers. The owner and CEO of the Company, Ralph Dommermuth, grew up in the area of Montabaur and started his business in the southern German City of Karlsruhe, where he went to University. The company faced a massive growth in the last decades and needed to expand. After the establishment of the ICE train station in Montabaur, Dommermuth decided to invest in the ICE Park and built the new headquarters of his Company in Montabaur. His decision might have been affected by him having his roots in the area but he would never have moved his company to the area without the High-speed Rail connection. United Internet alone created more than 800 jobs in Montabaur during not even one decade. (Sorge (Spiegel), 2007)

United Internet was the first company, sort of a pioneer, that settled in the new business park but many other companies followed this example. Marc Fischer, CEO of the consultancy Emc² that settled in the ICE Park, said in an interview on his decision of moving to Montabaur: “If the ICE connection was not here, we would have gone to Frankfurt or Wiesbaden” (Sorge (Spiegel), 2007). This shows what an important location factor the High-speed connection is.

The actual ambition of the municipality was to create some 300 jobs in the direct surrounding of the station.(DBProjekt Köln-Rhein/Main, 1999) Until now, the ICE Park alone provides workplaces for more than 1300 people and is still facing growth. (Stadt Montabaur, 2013)

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Montabaur rose by 2,7% in a four year span after the ICE System was introduced. Comparable areas in Germany that were not exposed to variations in accessibility could face hardly any growth in the same period of time. Scientific research describes this situation with the ‘market access treatment’, saying that for every percent in increase of market access, a GDP growth of 0.25% is achieved in return. In our specific case, this means the establishment of the High-speed station increased the market access by more than 10%. (Ahlfeldt & Feddersen, 2010, p. 50)

Further development can also be seen in the area between the ICE park and the City centre.

This fallow land is being transformed into the Aubachviertel, a new urban district providing office space and housing for several hundred people. (Stadt Montabaur, 2013) The aim of its construction is to link the City with its High-speed train hub.

Lydia Berressem of the Cities department for economy describes this process as follows: “It has been exactly like that 100 years ago. The city grows towards the Railway[station]” (Stadt Montabaur, 2013) With this she shows how the installation of the station revolutionized the economy of the whole region and how the Station is more and more becoming a centre of interest.

The accessibility of the region is not only interesting for companies which need office space but more and more also interesting for retail businesses. The development plan foresees a fashion outlet centre (FOC) to be constructed and opened in late 2014. This shopping park will provide more than 10,000 square metres of retail space. It is estimated to attract 1,5 to 2 million visitors each year, travelling from Frankfurt and Cologne in half an hour using the HSR link or coming by car using the perfect highway connections of the Bundesautobahn A3 and the A48 . They are expected to stay in the region for one full day of high class shopping experience and Sightseeing in the City Centre.

The Fashion Outlet Centre will create about 200 additional workspaces. The expected annual turnover is about 55 million Euros. (Stadt Montabaur, 2013)

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The construction of the FOC is a very controversial topic in the Westerwald area. Other cities in the region, even the City of Koblenz am Rhein (109.000 inhabitants) are in a legal procedure in relation to the Centre. These Cities fear the positive development in Montabaur and doubt that too much purchasing power might be drawn away by the new FOC.

With this research on the indirect effects of HSR, we can determine that these effects are overall positive concerning the long term perspective. In the particular case of Montabaur, we could notice a massive economic growth which is directly related to the positive variation of accessibility. 2,7% of GDP growth in a four year time period and more than 1500 new workplaces in the direct surrounding of the station are the figures of these positive effects. The great accessibility also attracted many commuters, which can now live in the countryside but work in the metropolis of Cologne and Frankfurt using the ICE as mean of commuting. This added value to the region and let property prices grow intensively.

The overall positive effects we could investigate in Montabaur can actually also be assigned to any other region that is connected to HSR. The problem in this might be the impossibility of measuring these effect, since it is not possible to detangle the vast economic development of big agglomeration zones on a single factor. In other words: Our research shows that better mobility connections lead to considerable indirect positive economic effects, although these might not always be measurable.

“Compared to the often low efficiency of other economic policy measures,[2,7% GDP growth in four years] is a surprisingly strong effect”. (Storbeck (Handelsblatt), 2010)

This means that investing in Infrastructure might have more positive effect on economic development than other measures that are implemented in order to achieve direct economic growth.

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7. Conclusion

High-speed Rail Systems have attracted massive investments in Europe. The First High-speed Rail Systems have been introduced in France and Germany with the TGV and the ICE system. More and more countries in Western Europe faced investments in High-speed Lines in the last decades. Most of the projects were developed with the goal of linking big agglomeration zones in different EU Countries with each other, so the HSR System in the Be-Ne-Lux area with the Thalys service that connects German, French, Belgian and Dutch destinations. The investments in HSR networks became more and more internationally oriented. The Spanish network, nowadays the largest HSL network in Europe, was built in standard gauge, which corresponds to the networks in Western and Central Europe, although the Spanish national rail network uses wide track. With this measure, a basis for integrating the Spanish HSL network into a European network has been set.

The European High-speed Rail network is operated by different companies which are mainly the National Railway operators of the countries, e.g. DB, SNCF and RENFE, or by joint venture Companies which are mostly part of the big national Railway companies, so Eurostar and Thalys. The services are carried out by different kinds of High-speed Trains. The name of the Train equals mostly the name of the product, the connection, so is the Thalys connection Amsterdam to Paris operated with a THALYS PBA Train.

Compared to the huge efforts of the European Union and its member states that were taken into the development of an integrated European High-speed Rail system, the amount of border crossing train connections is by far not satisfying. The main problem that hinders an increase are technological differences of infrastructure in the member countries of the EU. Nearly every country is operating its Rail network with an own voltage and safety system. High-speed Trains that are dedicated to border crossing service need to be capable of all voltage and signalling systems on their way. Nowadays only trains with special on board technology can be used for border crossing travel.

The described technical differences form a great need for a harmonized European Railway safety system. The EU is currently developing the ETCS (European Train Control System) System, a single integrated system which should be applied on all High-speed Rail Tracks in the Unions’ member states. This system will enormously facilitate border crossing services and reduce overall cost. ETCS is already partly in use and was already exported into many countries in the world.

With the facilitation of border crossing HSR connections, the competitiveness of High-speed Trains compared to air travel and personal car usage will increase. More and more people will be connected to the HSR Systems and might make usage of the advantages these systems bring.

Travellers prefer High-speed Train connections mostly for the time reasons. With Speeds of up to 320km/h, relatively short distances can be covered in no time. High-speed Train connections are the fastest mean of transport for distances lower than 800 kilometres, provided the infrastructure is capable for high speeds.

This superiority in Speed, together with the comfort of train travel can be determined as main reasons for which people decide to use HSR instead of air travel or personal car. Comfort of train travel can in this case be further detangled in four main aspects. For High-speed Trains, nearly no luggage restrictions, neither in size nor in weight, occur. Another big part of comfort in Trains is the possibility to use the whole travel time productively or for recreation.

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Modern High-speed Trains offer comfortable compartments with tables, power outlets and Internet access, which provides every service needed for working on the train. With air travel, the actual time one sits inside the aircraft is only a fragment of the complete travel time. For example the time needed for Check-In and security procedures at the airport cannot be used individually. The loss of these time consuming procedures might be one of the most important comfort advantages of High-speed Rail. People are even willing to take longer travel times into account, when the comfort of the mean of transport is higher, especially when these time consuming security and check-in procedures that occur in the busy environment of airports can be bypassed.

HSR Systems offer city centre to city centre connections. This can also be seen as comfort factor because long commuting travels to a Terminal, for example an Airport, which is not be found in the City itself, are no longer needed. Next to comfort and Speed, ticket prices might also occur as a reason of mode choice, although the HSR system cannot be considered a generally cheap mean of transport. The fact that HSR is one of the greenest means of transport on the market is more and more an aspect of consideration in mode choice for travellers who want to travel in a sustainable manor.

The direct effects of HSR on travel times and comfort of travel are over all positive. Another important point of consideration when it comes to the implementation of new HSR projects is the effect this connection has on the area it is installed in. Indirect effects of HSR are economic development and the attractiveness of a location.

Under normal conditions it is hardly possible to define a single factor of variation as reason for economic development. In other words, the economic dynamic of a big agglomeration is too complex to refer growth to certain factor. Big agglomerations, however, are usually the areas which are connected to HSR Systems, since the demand for connections to other successful regions is considered highest in these areas.

Referring economic development to a single factor of variation is therefore only possible in areas which do not show a great economic dynamic. On the basis of such a case, the small City of Montabaur in Germany, which faced the installation of a HSR Station for political prestige reasons only, it was possible to determine the indirect effects of High-speed Rail connection.

After the installation of the Station in 2002, investments in the local economy rose massive. Many businesses were attracted by the region and created more than 1500 Jobs since the opening of the station. The GDP of the region grew by 2,7% in four years’ time. A very high amount for an area that did not face any major economic developments before.

With the low travel times and the great accessibility the system offers to the business centres of Frankfurt am Main and Cologne, Montabaur became increasingly attractive for people who work in the big cities. It was now possible to live in the countryside in Montabaur but work in the cities, using the ICE as mean of commuting. The demand for real estate brought a growth in property prices of more than 80% in a period of ten years. The station, which was estimated to be used by some 300 people on a daily base is nowadays used by more than 3000 travellers every day.

This particular case can be seen as prove for the existence of a correlation between increased accessibility and positive economic development. Compared to other measures of economic policy, the effect better accessibility shows on the economic development in the Case of Montabaur are surprisingly high. Investments in traffic infrastructure might be one of the most effective measures to stimulate direct growth in a particular region, although this economic development can hardly be measured. Investment in HSR infrastructure might strongly stimulate

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economic dynamics, however, every project and therefore every case has to be evaluated individually.

High-speed Rail does not only have effects on travel time, speed and resistance of travel but also shows impacts its environment and peoples travel behaviour. The volume of money invested in High-speed rail might not fast and completely return from the System itself but can strongly stimulate economic growth, which generates jobs and value in a long term perspective. For future projects, not only the direct effects of travel time decrease and lowered resistance should be taken into account but also the just mentioned indirect effects.

8. Recommendation

The investigation has shown which overall positive effects High-speed Rail as mean of transport brings. The efforts that have been carried out by the European Union and its member states were generally leading to the described success. Therefore we recommend policy makers and Railway organisations to further develop the European HSR System into a standardized, interoperable and competitive network. This goal can certainly be achieved, provided the current efforts that are made to harmonize railway technology, especially the installation of a standardized safety system, the ETCS, are further undertaken. In order to enlarge the coverage of HSR, further investment is needed. First of all, investment is needed to connect existing High-speed Lines with each other in a more sufficient manor. Secondly, the system needs to be enlarged, to serve more fully utilize the advantages this technology offers throughout the Union. This denser network would automatically increase the competitiveness of HSR compared to other means of transport on the market.

Since the Railway is an environmental friendly mean of transport, large amounts of Emissions could be reduced if more people chose for HSR. A denser and further spread HSR Network might also stimulate economic development. Especially for Eastern Europe and areas with low economic dynamics in Western Europe, this might be an appealing reason for investment. Another point of consideration is the service provided in the trains. Many travellers choose HSR because of the possibility to use travel time productively. These possibilities can be improved by providing services like Internet access on board the trains. Services like these and more covered destinations further rise the attractiveness of HSR.

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http://www.montabaur.de/montabaur/de/WIRTSCHAFT%20&%20WOHNEN/Wirtschaft/ICE-Park%20Montabaur/

http://www.montabaur.de/montabaur/de/WIRTSCHAFT%20&%20WOHNEN/Wirtschaft/ICE-Park%20Montabaur/

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/madrid-barcelona-at-310-kmh-with-etcs-level-2.html%20(8

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/madrid-barcelona-at-310-kmh-with-etcs-level-2.html%20(8

http://www.travelempire.co.uk/disneyresort_byeurostar.phtml?gclid=CMayyNSahbMCFYTMtAodq0UA7Q

http://www.travelempire.co.uk/disneyresort_byeurostar.phtml?gclid=CMayyNSahbMCFYTMtAodq0UA7Q

http://www.government.nl/issues/mobility-public-transport-and-road-safety/public-transport/goals-of-public-transport

http://www.government.nl/issues/mobility-public-transport-and-road-safety/public-transport/goals-of-public-transport


Pictures and Figures

Titlepage:http://cdn.pinkbigmac.com/img/hauptbahnhof_berlin_innenansicht_haup.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Talbruecke-Froschgrundsee-Okt2011.jpg/300px-Talbruecke-Froschgrundsee-Okt2011.jpghttp://www.griechenland.diplo.de/contentblob/2940908/Galeriebild_gross/928146/ICE.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Thalys_PBKA_Refurbished_Nederland.jpg

Comparison of travel times (European commission, High Speed rail, 2011, p27.)

Commuting times to and from Terminals (Davies-Gleave, 2006, p18)

Frequency of service by means of transport (Davies-Gleave, 2006, p14)

Average delay times by means of transport(European commission, pocketbook, 2012, p56)

Carbon footprint of transport (International union of railways, carbon footprint of high speed rail, 2011, p24)

Brussels, Gare de Midi(http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7203/6972730573_41f38660bb.jpg)

An ICE in the station of Montabaur (http://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/br-403-ice-3-94885.jpg)

High Speed Lines in the Be-Ne-Lux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hslbenelux.png)

Direttissima HSR Line in Italy (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etr500.JPG, 2013)

Existing and projected HSR in France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France_TGV.png)

LAV network in Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HighSpeedSpain.svg)

Map of the ICE Business Park Montabaur(http://www.montabaur.de/montabaur/de/WIRTSCHAFT%20&%20WOHNEN/Wirtschaft/ICE-Park%20Montabaur/)

VII