High-Speed Rail for Central and Eastern European Countries: A Conference Report

JANDOVÁ, Monika, Zdeněk TOMEŠ and Christopher Alfred NASH. High-Speed Rail for Central and Eastern European Countries: A Conference Report. REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES. DE GRUYTER OPEN LTD, BOGUMILA ZUGA 32A ST, 01-811 WARSAW, POLAND, 2016, vol. 16, No 3, p. 269-275. ISSN 1213-2446. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/revecp-2016-0016.

Basic information

• Original name: High-Speed Rail for Central and Eastern European Countries: A Conference Report
• Authors: JANDOVÁ, Monika (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Zdeněk TOMEŠ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Christopher Alfred NASH (826 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
• Edition: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, DE GRUYTER OPEN LTD, BOGUMILA ZUGA 32A ST, 01-811 WARSAW, POLAND, 2016, 1213-2446.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50202 Applied Economics, Econometrics
• Country of publisher: Poland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14560/16:00113834
• Organization unit: Faculty of Economics and Administration
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/revecp-2016-0016
• UT WoS: 000406945000006
• Keywords in English: Central and Eastern Europe; demand forecast; ex-ante evaluations; economic geography; high-speed rail

Abstract

The European transport strategy promotes the role of railways and expects that the key role in passenger transport should be played by high-speed rail (HSR). Although the core network of high-speed lines has already been built and is operating in Western Europe, there has been little coverage so far in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The aim of the conference " High-Speed Rail for CEE Countries" that took place in Prague in June 2016 was to put together academics, policy-makers, and practitioners interested in HSR and to formulate recommendations for CEE countries based on West European countries' experience. Based on the conference presentations and subsequent discussion, the following conclusions were formulated. Firstly, there are many crucial differences in national HSR build-up and operation, which means that former experience of Western Europe is not directly applicable to CEE countries. Secondly, in comparing presentations discussing experiences in France, Britain, Italy, and Germany, it was concluded that the German approach-upgrading existing lines where possible and only building new lines for bottleneck sections-was the most likely appropriate solution in CEE. Lastly, CEE has the additional problem of many border crossings, with a reduction of traffic in comparison with purely domestic routes, and this effect has to be taken into account.