This paper analyses rail speed on a set of 1 356 routes between medium and large
EU cities located less than 500 km apart. On only 3 % of routes between these cities
do rail speeds exceed 150 km/h and on 30 % of routes the speed is below 60 km/h.
Rail speeds tend to be lower and more connections are missing in eastern EU Member
States and on cross-border routes.
Out of 297 routes, served by both rail and a direct flight, the rail trip is faster on 68
of the routes. Improving operating speed to 160 km/h on the Trans-European
Transport Network (TEN-T) core would increase this to 103. Operating speeds of
around 175 km/h appear to be sufficient for rail-based trips to consistently
outperform air trips on distances up to 500 km, but this is only necessary for
longer trips.
A switch of air passengers to rail on routes where rail is faster would lead to a 17 %
reduction in the total amount of CO2 emissions from air trips on the 297 routes
analysed, and a 4.2 % decrease in passenger travel time on these routes. If the speed
on the TEN-T core network were to be improved, as proposed by the European
Commission, such a modal switch would reduce CO2
emissions on these routes by
25 % and travel times would decrease by 6 %. Such a modal switch would, however,
require more than improvements in travel time alone and should consider issues such
as cost, convenience, comfort and connecting flights.
How fast are rail trips between EU cities and is rail faster than air?
Author: Martijn Brons, Lewis Dijkstra, Hugo Poelman, European commission, 03/2023
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