GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022)
Evaluation of the usefulness and relevance criteria
for high-speed railway route construction projects:
case study of Czechia
MILAN VITURKA1
, VILEM PAŘIL2
, MARTIN FARBIAK3
1
Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Department of Regional
Economics, Brno, Czechia; e-mail: Milan.Viturka@econ.muni.cz
2
Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Institute for Transport
Economics, Geography and Policy, Department of Economics, Brno, Czechia; e-mail: vilem@
mail.muni.cz
3
Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a. s., Zvolen, Slovakia; e-mail: Farbiak.Martin@slovakrail.sk
A B S T R A C T The main goal of this article is to assess the effectiveness of the high-speed railway
routes construction programme in Czechia according to the criteria of usefulness (with primary
links to potential revenues) and relevance (with primary links to potential costs) as integral
parts of applying the original methodology of multi-criteria evaluation of public projects within
transport infrastructure. The first set of performed analyses focused on observing the development
of relevant traffic flows. They were outlined based on data from the movement of mobile
phone users and verified through surveys of passenger preferences and other indicators. The
second set of analyses was based on an evaluation of relevant external (natural and social conditions)
and internal (technical and operational conditions) factors. The practical benefit of these
analyses is an evaluation of the position of the planned four routes in terms of the examined
criteria. They represent an important basis for setting priorities as a strategic component of
managing an investment programme.
KEY W O R D S transport - high-speed routes - usefulness - relevance - evaluation
VITURKA, M., PAŘIL, v., FARBIAK, M . (2022): Evaluation of the usefulness and relevance criteria
for high-speed railway route construction projects: case study of Czechia. Geografie, 127.
https://doi.org/10.37040/geografie.2022.012
Received February 2022, accepted July 2022.
© Česká geografická společnost, z. s., 2022
2 C E O C R A F I E 127/X (2022) / M . VITURKA, V. PARIL, M . FARBIAK
1. Introduction
Transport policy is an important part of public policy, as evidenced by its inclusion
among the common policies of the European Union, which are binding on
all Member States, i.e., the institutions of the European Union have "exclusive
competences". The long-term vision in this area was described in the White Paper
on Transport (European Commission 2011), which lists the main challenges:
- traffic congestion in road transport
- the sustainability of transport, which is too dependent on oil
- negative effects on air quality
- improving the quality of transport infrastructure, which is still unevenly de-
veloped.
One important tool for meeting these challenges is considered to be the construction
of high-speed rail, which has significant implications for the integration of
social structures and their sustainable development. Relevant projects in Czechia
are in the preparation stage and the following lines have been set: high-speed rail 1
(Prague-Jihlava-Brno-Pferov-Ostrava-Czechia/Poland border -> Katowice),
high-speed rail 2 (Brno-Bfeclav-Czechia/Austria border -> Vienna), high-speed
rail 3 (Prague-Pilsen-Domazlice-Czechia/Germany border -> Munich), and
high-speed rail 4 (Prague-Usti nad Labem-Czechia/Germany border -> Dresden).
(Ministry of Transport 2017, 2020) These lines are seen as a promising part of
the Trans-European Transport Network integrating EU road, rail, water, and air
infrastructure. The following corridors have the strongest direct ties to Czechia:
- The Orient-East-Mediterranean Corridor: Hamburg-Berlin-Dresden-Prague-
Brno-Budapest-Timisoara-Sofia-Athens.
- The Baltic-Adriatic Corridor: Gdansk-Warsaw-Katowice-Ostrava-Brno/
Bratislava-Vienna-Venetia-Ravenna. Of the other transport corridors, this
has the strongest ties to the Czechia.
- The Rhine-Danube Corridor: Strasbourg-Frankfurt/M.-Munich-Vienna-
Bratislava-Budapest-Bucharest.
The construction of high-speed rail is a complicated matter, the effectiveness of
which - i.e. the degree to which set goals are met - cannot be objectively assessed
without a carefully tailored methodological procedure created by independent
expert teams. This procedure should be based on a professional vision and not on
general proclamations and discussions about parameters and route placements.
In this regard, we consider two issues to be crucial: the efficiency of investments
and their contributions to regional convergence. In this regard, we consider two
crucial issues: the efficiency of investments and their contribution to regional
convergence.
EVALUATION OF T H E U S E F U L N E S S A N D R E L E V A N C E CRITERIA... 3
Preliminary evaluations of private and public projects usually use a cost-benefit
analysis, but its implications are limited by the impossibility of correctly taking
into account the production of positive and negative externalities (Bristow,
Nellthorp 2000). Externalities arise outside the market and can thus be expressed
in monetary terms only through so-called shadow prices (Maibach et al. 2008).
This indisputable fact requires, especially in the case of major public projects
such as high-speed rail, fundamental attention to be paid to holistically oriented
multi-criteria approaches based on non-monetary indicators so as to significantly
expand the limited information obtained by applying cost-benefit analysis. In
this case, then, the main problem is that the relevant methodological procedures
have not been developed to the necessary level and thus do not enable obtaining
comparable information (Atalik, Fischer 2002; Albalate, Bel 2012). Logically, this
brings us to the question of what the fundamental ability to empirically identify
the development impacts of high-speed rail is (Blanquart, Koning 2017). In
this context, an original methodology was created for multi-criteria evaluation
of infrastructure projects, including the following five criteria: usefulness (an
economic component), relevance (a territorial and technical component), stimulation
(a regional-development component), integration (a political-administrative
component), and sustainability (an environmental component).
The main goal of this article is to assess the effectiveness of the high-speed
railway routes construction programme in Czechia according to the criteria of
usefulness (with primary links to potential revenues) and relevance (with primary
links to potential costs) as integral parts of applying the original methodology
of multi-criteria evaluation of public projects within transport infrastructure.
Based on an analysis of previous studies from elsewhere, the following research
hypothesis was established: due to the settlement structure characterised by only
one established metropolis of supranational importance, achieving efficiency of
investments in the construction of high-speed rail seems unlikely in Czechia.
This hypothesis corresponds to a detailed investigation carried out on a sample
of 14 high-speed rail lines operating in EU countries. According to this report,
the specified European efficiency threshold of 25,000 passengers per day was
reached on only five routes: Torino-Salerno, Madrid-Barcelona, Berlin-Munich,
Paris-Strasbourg, and Munich-Stuttgart (in the section being operated). Only two
of them had an average speed above 200 km/h (European Court of Auditors 2018).
In the context of high-speed rail construction, the notion of spatio-temporal
convergence is induced by increasing the speed of traffic with positive effects on
regional cooperation (janelle 1968). This issue has long been debated, and a critical
view of the role of high-speed rail in regional development has gradually prevailed
(Gauthier 1970; Marada, Květoň, Vondráčková 2006). There have been several
examples where the construction of high-speed rail has led to an increase in divergence
(Saat, Serano 2015). In this regard, we recommend broadening the economic
4 C E O C R A F I E 127/X (2022) / M . VITURKA, V. PARIL, M . FARBIAK
view of the potential benefits of high-speed rail to include impacts on residential
attractiveness. It would be best to take a comprehensive approach to the creation
of positive externalities, generated in particular by the impacts of high-speed rail
on environmental quality, spatial integration, and the selective stimulation of regional
development with an emphasis on development axes of national importance
(Snieska, Zykiene, Burksaitiene 2019). Within the framework of the corresponding
operational measures, harmonisation of the high-speed rail timetable to optimally
improve connectivity to other transport modes in the context of door-to-door trips
appears to be a promising strategy (Brezina, Knoflacher 2014).
In addition to the results of our own research to date, knowledge gained from
other publications and specialised studies in Czechia and elsewhere was used to
explain the given topic. In this context, most attention has been focused on the
following research themes: analyses and transport demand models with an emphasis
on the use of mobile provider data referred to as "big data" (e.g. Bel 1997;
Lundqvist, Mattsson 2001), the efficiency and political and economic aspects of
high-speed rail construction (Albalate, Bel 2012; Nash 2015), and transnational,
regional, and local high-speed rail links (Kim, Sultana, Weber 2018; Viturka, Paril,
Low 2021).
2. Data and methods
To evaluate both criteria under study, custom methodological procedures were
developed emphasising the comprehensiveness of the database with positive implications
for determining potential impacts and subsequently prioritising highspeed
rail construction. The practical application of the created evaluation models
made it possible to identify the ranking of individual planned high-speed rail
routes according to selected indicators and subsequently aggregate the achieved
results within the relevant criteria.
2.1. Methodology for usefulness
Assessment of the usefulness criterion was based on an analysis of road and rail
traffic volumes on corridors directionally corresponding to the planned highspeed
rail routes as a fundamental determinant of potential passenger shifts to
this new mode of transport. For this purpose, due to the limited predictive power
of traditional data sources (e.g. in terms of temporal coverage of differences in
demand among university students across the school year), signal data from mobile
operators regarding SIM card users' movements within Czechia were used.
This data were collected in four 14-day cycles during 2019. The data set is therefore
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA... 5
robust and forms the basis for so-called big data containing more structured information
(e.g. on SIM card origin or observations of daily, weekly, and seasonal
mobility) on several million movements from T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s. In
order to verify and refine the predictive power of the big data, so-called small data,
focused on a more detailed description of the structure of traffic flows and other
relevant characteristics related to passenger behaviour, were used to improve the
accuracy of the results. In this context, Figure 1 presents the main data sources.
Step 1: SIM cards' users big data on movements
using most detailed origin-destination (OD) datasets of SIM card with hourly temporality users
Step 2: maximisation of dataset according to GDPR ratio to 100%
Road mode Rail mode
Step 3a: diversification of the road mode: trucks, buses, cars
- trucks: data from toll gates on freight traffic movements on the
Czech motorway network (DRM, 2021)
- bus volumes: data from the public transport timetable information
system (IDOS, 2019)
- bus occupancy: feasibility study of the HSR 1 and HSR 2 routes
(Railway Administration, 2020)
Step 4a: verification
- road structure: traffic
census (DRM, 2016)
- bus occupancy: Transport
Yearbook (Ministry of
Transport, 2020)
IStep 5: road trip refinement
via travel time for cars
- source resolution: Prague
(48.04%), Brno (51.96%)
Input: A questionnaire survey of
passengers' preferences of modes
of transport—i.e., car, bus, and
train on the Prague-Brno route—
aimed at identifying passengers'
willingness to switch to HSR in
case of implementation of the
currently proposed operational
models, including the inclusion of
regional terminals (Augur, 2020)
Step 3b: Cleaning of
crew's and rail service
provider's SIM card
- SIM card data of train
staff (Czech Railways
2019 b)
XStep 4b: verification
- data on ticket sales of
Czech Railways on
relevant corridors
corresponding to the SIM
card data (Czech
Railways, 2019a)
Step 6a: car passengers'
preference decrease (21.32%)
Step 6b: bus passengers'
preference decrease (3.35%)
T
Step 6c: train passengers'
preference decrease (1.96%)
total HSR passenger volume potential
Fig. 1 - Data used in the model. Source: own research.
6 CEOCRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PARIL, M. FARBIAK
An important aspect of the data sets provided by mobile operators is the need
to meet the requirements of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In practice, the existence of this measure means that the underlying SIM card
data from mobile operators cannot be provided without some degree of aggregation,
which implies the need to merge the relevant SIM trajectories into relevant
traffic flows. In our case, the individual traffic flows therefore had to contain at
least three SIM cards. In terms of the factual orientation of the input data, it is
worth mentioning the exclusion of data on SIM card movements related to truck
crews - a reflection of the priority focus for Czech high-speed rail on passenger
transport (see Road and Motorway Directorate 2021) delivery services, business
trips by sales representatives and other trips characterised by many stops and the
exclusion of on-board staff in public transport, and the results of the conducted
surveys respecting the average occupancy rate of the modes of transport.
2.2. Methodology for relevance
The subsequent evaluation of the relevance criterion was based on an analysis
of selected factors with fundamental links to the project preparation and construction
implementation of the planned high-speed rail, broadly divided into
external and internal factors. The evaluation methodology itself was then based on
determining the order of planned routes within individual factors (including the
determination of weights reflecting the territorial differentiation of the relevant
values) and the subsequent aggregation of the obtained results. The first group of
factors reflected the geographical conditions of the construction including natural
(landscape structures) and social (urban structures) constraints to the location1
.
The evaluation of these factors on a route-by-route basis, with an emphasis on
key characteristics (Kudrnovska, Kousal 1971) and population density, provided
important information necessary for objective decision-making on the implementation
of these financially demanding engineering projects. As far as the landscape
structure is concerned, it can be stated that the discussed routes, by following the
directions of conventional railway routes established by historical development,
would limit, to some extent, the significant expansion of landscape fragmentation.
However, this fragmentation would be strengthened by higher demands regarding
1
According to the relative height fragmentation, the relief can be divided into relief planes
with a segmentation of up to 30 m, hills with a segmentation of 30-150 m, highlands with
a segmentation of 150-300 m and rocks with a segmentation of 300-600 m. Population density
is closely related to the size of settlements and in the case of Prague it is about 2.7 thousand
inhabitants/km2
, Brno approx. 1.7 thousand inhabitants/km2
and in the smallest affected
regional town Jihlava then 0,6 thousand inhabitants/km2
.
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA... 7
technical parameters. In this respect, the main concern is the minimum radii of
the track curves, which are 6.5 km for passenger transport and 8.5 km for mixed
transport. Other cost factors of particular importance include bridging the valleys
of large rivers. In regards to the slope, the limits have been set at 35%o for
passenger transport and 18%o for mixed passenger and freight transport (Watson
2021). On the basis of expert estimates, it can be stated that routing high-speed
rail through a landscape of hills and uplands, which is typical for Czechia, has
increased construction costs by about 45% compared to a lowland landscape (Van
Hecke et al. 2003).
The highest costs are naturally associated with overcoming mountain ridges
and urban limits through the construction of tunnels. The main output of this
stage was a preliminary evaluation of the planned high-speed rails, which has
an indicative character due to the still unfinished approval process for their final
location. However, an analytical assessment of the planned routes according to an
urban planning perspective showed that the most significant construction obstacles
with proportional costs can be expected in urban agglomerations, where it is
necessary to respect a number of legal measures and standards aimed at protecting
the population from negative effects of high-speed rail on the quality of the
urban environment. The group of internal factors includes the factor of using
the throughput capacity of existing routes as the basic foundation for a qualified
assessment of the operational value of high-speed rail construction and the subsequent
perception of synergistic effects generated by transferring part of express
passenger transport from existing conventional routes and the subsequent release
of their capacity for the development of other passenger and especially freight
transport (with positive impacts on the operability and speed of rail transport).
According to capacity utilisation, the sections of the Czech railways are divided
into four groups: Group 1 - sections with utilisation below 50%, Group 2 - sections
with utilisation of 50-74%, Group 3 - sections with utilisation of 75-99%,
and Group 4 - sections with utilisation of 100% and more. The final stage of the
assessment was a synthesis of the findings obtained as an important source of
information for setting construction priorities, where, to counteract the distorting
effects of the different lengths of the planned routes, emphasis was placed on the
incidence of above-average values for selected factors with significant effects on
the cost (and usually length) of the construction.
3. Research results
This section presents the results of the evaluation of the proposed high-speed rail
routes according to the criteria specified above. In the first subsection, the applied
methodology emphasised the potential impacts of the selected factors on potential
8 GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PAŘIL, M. FARBIAK
revenues, and in the second subsection on the potential construction costs of the
proposed routes.
3.1. Results on usefulness
The data sets produced enabled the quantification of primary potential traffic flows
related to the planned routes that, in line with the generally limited predictive
power of future societal development, were processed using variant scenarios
labelled as minimum, average, and maximum variants. The practical interpretation
of the achieved results emphasised the prospective savings in travel time
between the regional cities concerned: Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Pilsen, Ústí and
Labem, Jihlava, and Olomouc (connected to the high-speed rail via the nearby
Přerov railway junction). As part of the usefulness criterion, extensive origin-destination
data sets on rail and road transport mobility, up to the level of designated
municipalities (393 municipalities in total), were collected to obtain the highest
level of spatial and temporal detail. In this context, it was necessary to consider
the fact that a rigorous application of the GDPR would reduce the actual passenger
numbers to 65.45%. This problem could be solved operationally by calibrating to
a level of 100%. Using the example of the busiest Prague-Brno connection, the
calibration methodology from T-Mobile recorded more than 99% compliance
compared to the uncalibrated data respecting the GDPR ratio.
The following tables present the observed organised values of the intensity of
traffic flows between Czech metropolitan areas for the most important routes,
Brno-Prague and Ostrava-Brno, in variations that only take big data into account
and variations that also take small data into account (Table l). These data came
mainly from surveys differentiated by the main modes, which capture the extent
to which potential passengers were willing to switch to high-speed rail in future.
The calculations performed differentiated between the respective traffic flows
implemented by rail, bus, truck, and car transport and special road transport comprising
delivery and business travellers (SRT). For broader reference, it is worth
Table 1 - Traffic flow structure on the route Prague-Brno
Mode Rail Road Total PT2HSR
Category Pass Crew I Cars Bus Trucks SR I I I I
big data 4,409 522 4,931 7,316 1,937 3,686 7,996 20,935 25,865 13,662
small data 4,323 - 4,323 5,756 1,872 — 7,628 — 11,951
Pass - Passengers; PT2HSR - Potential transfer to high-speed rail
Source: SIM card big data, IDOS (2019), own research.
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA... 9
noting that in 2019 the share of rail transport in total inland passenger transport
was around 3.6%, the share of bus transport was 6.6%, the share of IAT including
SRT was 48.4%, and the complementary share of local public transport was
41.3% (Ministry of Transport 2020). These data provide important information on
the differences in preferences for different mode type groups and metropolitan
significance and the resulting maximum values of potential passenger transfer
to each high-speed rail route (the primary source of the trip was distinguished
by its start time, where trips starting between 0:00 and 12:00 were considered to
be trips from the source metropolitan area, while trips between 13:00 and 24:00
were considered to be return trips).
The results of the surveys carried out for rail and bus show a very low proportion
of passengers who were not willing to switch to high-speed rail under any
circumstances and therefore preferred lower travel costs to lower travel times (the
average values were 1.9% for train and 3.3% for bus). Significantly lower willingness
to switch to high-speed rail was found in the case of passengers using cars,
where the observed proportions of passengers refusing to switch were 31.4% for
the Brno-Prague direction and 10.4% for the opposite direction of Prague-Brno. In
the context of significantly different values within the two directions for car transport,
it can be hypothesised that the willingness to accept changes was inversely
proportional to existing differences in the value status or economic prosperity of
both metropolitan centres. On the basis of the above data, it can be concluded that
the most significant transfers of passengers to the planned high-speed rail would
be linked to the most important mode of transport: car transport, (in this context,
it is worth mentioning that in many countries with a different inland transport
structure that includes air transport, unlike Czechia, such as France, the development
of a high-speed rail network has also meant a significant shift of passengers
away from this mode of transport.) The individual inter-regional sessions were
derived from the inter-regional transport volumes (Ministry of Transport 2020)
and coefficients were applied to these sessions based on comparing the session between
Prague and Brno with the traffic obtained from this session in the signalling
SIM card big data. The shift from train and bus transport is reflected in the Public
Transport variant. For shifts from cars, we used the maximum potential of 15%
(Albalate, Bel 2012; Feigenbaum, 2013) from car volumes excluding SRT. The shift
from trains, buses, and even cars is shown in Modal Shift variant (Table 2). The last
Theoretical variant calculated the maximum achievable train volumes from the
Transport Yearbook (Ministry of Transport 2020) increased by a shift from buses
and cars. However, this last variant assumed a shift from all inter-regional train
passengers to high-speed rail, which is only achievable theoretically. Table 2 shows
the results for the relevant connections between all regional centres affected by
the planned high-speed rail network. The cells relevant for calculating the shift
to high-speed rail 1 are in italic and highlighted in grey.
10 GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PARIL, M. FARBIAK
Table 2 - Selected inter-regional linkages and their potential for high-speed rail (in thousands of
persons / year) - "modal shift" variant
Origin/destination Prague Jihlava Brno Olomouc Ostrava Plzeň Ústí/L.
Prague X 273 1,040 1,095 1,113 783 858
Jihlava 297 X 488 13 14 10 9
Brno 1,085 526 X 399 414 20 22
Olomouc 1,137 14 415 X 680 17 12
Ostrava 1,160 15 424 689 X 20 10
Plzeň 833 10 21 17 21 X 20
Ústí/L 935 9 25 12 11 22 x
Note: The cells relevant for calculating the shift to high-speed rail 1 are in italic and highlighted in grey. Assumes
transfer of all potential passengers from rail and bus passengers and 15% passengers shifted from the car (Albalate,
Bel 2012).
Source: Transport Yearbook (2020), SIM card Big Data, own research.
Table 3 - Potential time savings generated by high-speed rail (in hours/trip)
Regional centre Prague Jihlava Brno Olomouc Ostrava Plzeň Ústí/L.
Travel time savings high-speed rail to conventional train
Prague x 1.32 1.45 0.78 1.53 0.00 0.68
Jihlava 0.27 x 1.28 2.55 3.02 2.02 2.32
Brno Travel time L 1 3 0.30 x 0.75 1.35 2.40 2.82
Olomouc S
° V
' " g S
, 1.05 1.75 0.25 x 0.20 0.93 1.73
hiqh-speea
Ostrava rajltoroad L 6 7 2
- 5 2
°-80
°-20 x L 7 0 2 5 2
Plzeň 0.02 2.22 3.13 3.75 4.60 x 1.75
Ústí/L 0.57 2.28 3.20 3.90 4.88 2.08 x
Source: Czech Railways (2021a, 2021b), Maps.google (2021), own research
Table 4 shows that only in the Theoretical variant (the maximum variant) did the
potential traffic volumes on the planned high-speed rail routes generally reach the
European efficiency threshold (European Court of Auditors 2018). The corresponding
population information derived from functional urban areas (Eurostat 2021)
shows the population minimum for a sufficient number of passengers is about
7 million inhabitants in the relevant urban area. In our case, however, the highest
number related to high-speed rail 1 was only 3.8 million inhabitants, meaning 54%
of this value. In this context, it can therefore be concluded that this threshold is
unlikely to be reached. From a purely economic point of view, the plan to build
an high-speed rail network in Czechia appears to be inefficient overall and its
potential benefits can thus be expected to appear more within the incentive and
sustainability criteria. In this context, it is necessary to mention also the border
effect, the reduction in the intensity of cross-border versus inland traffic flows in
passenger transport, where the ratio of the intensity of domestic and international
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA... 11
Table 4 - Potential Time Savings of Planned high-speed rail Routes
HSR Passengers Time savings Rank
(thousands of persons /year) (hours a year)
Public transport Modal shift Theoretical Public transport Modal shift Theoretical
HSR1 5,889 7,064 10,792 7,930 12,146 16,362 1
HSR2 495* 522* 835* 0 0 0 4
HSR3 1,496 1,795 2,742 231 338 444 3
HSR4 1,621 1,945 2,970 1,218 1,893 2,567 2
Note: HSR - high-speed rail. High-speed rail Route 2 calculates potential passenger transfers between Brno and
Břeclav with the data on commuting based on Census (Czech Statistical Office 2011). Time savings on the Brno-Břeclav
route do not occur in the Czech Railways operating model and the journey time remains constant at 30 minutes.
Source: Ministry of Transport (2020), own research.
rail transport in Czechia was set at 1:0.2 after analyses (Pařil, Viturka 2020). Table 3
shows the potential time savings associated with building high-speed rail compared
to an existing road connection. These savings can be considered a decisive factor
in increasing the competitiveness of long-distance rail transport.
In addition to the information given in Table 3, it is worth noting that the typical
distance required to reach the maximum speed of a high-speed train of 300 km/h
(which is currently estimated based on the longest route, high-speed rail l) is
around 20 km, with about 6 km required for a stop. In order to meet, from an
operational and technical point of view, the completely logical requirement that
the maximum speed be used for at least 2/3 of the running time, then the smallest
appropriate distance between stops would have to be around 100 km. From this, it
can be concluded that a closer distance between stops generates negative effects
on the overall efficiency of high-speed rail operations.
From the standpoint of prospective time savings, the results of the analyses
presented in Table 4 showed that by far the greatest potential was available on
high-speed rail 1 Prague-Brno-Ostrava and the least potential was on the shortest
line, high-speed rail 2.
3.2. Results on relevance
In the case of the relevance criterion, the evaluation results attained for the individual
high-speed rail lines, considering the links to the current rail network,
are further presented according to the selected factors and in accordance with
their ranking. The planned high-speed rail 1 route corresponds in direction to
the railway lines Prague-Kolín-Havlíčkův Brod-Brno-Přerov-Ostrava, which
are electrified and, except for the expected branch line to the regional town of
Jihlava and the Brno-Přerov section, double-tracked. For further analysis, it is
12 GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PAŘIL, M. FARBIAK
appropriate to divide the route into Brno and Ostrava sections. In the Brno section,
approximately 2/3 of the line passes through uplands and, in accordance with the
nature of the landscape, is characterised by a slightly higher-than-average slope
(the highest gradient observed is close to 15%o). Its routing through the urbanised
areas of the metropolitan regions of Prague and Brno appears to be a much
more serious problem (potential conflicts with existing land uses, noise abatement
measures, and more). In this respect, the connection to Brno is particularly
important in connection to the planned construction of the new central railway
station, with respect to its options for placement (in the north or south). The existing
routes included all of the aforementioned capacity utilisation groups, and the
corresponding average value was 1.7. According to the mentioned considerations,
and furthermore the distribution of traffic flows, the optimal use of high-speed rail
appeared to be for passenger services only. In this context, significant synergistic
effects can be expected from the transfer of a substantial part of fast passenger
transport from the existing Brno-Česká Třebová-Prague line. In the case of the
Ostrava section, the planned high-speed rail route essentially follows historical
routes passing through a flat landscape and the very low slope of the landscape
naturally corresponds to this fact. The greatest limitations on the options for surface
routing, to protect the quality of the residential environment, can be expected
in the densely populated metropolitan region of Ostrava. In terms of the capacity
utilisation of the routes, the three sections had values well above average and
the calculated average value was 3.1 (the total group value for both sections was
2.3). As in the previous case, we considered the optimal use of high-speed rail to
be only for passenger transport, where we could again expect synergistic effects
generated by the transfer of a significant part of fast passenger transport from
the existing Ostrava-Česká Třebová-Prague line associated with more efficient
use of the freed capacity for freight transport.
The planned high-speed rail 2 route corresponds to the Brno-Břeclav electrified
double-track railway line. It passes through a flat landscape and, in line with the
nature of the landscape, is characterised by a very low slope (generally not exceeding
l%o) with positive effects on construction costs. In terms of the geographical
conditions for construction, protecting the population from negative impacts on
the quality of the residential environment is therefore of crucial importance. The
capacity utilization for the existing route was below 7 5 % and the corresponding
group average was 1.6 (the lowest value among the routes assessed). Based on
the strong link to the previous route, the use of the planned high-speed rail for
passenger traffic only, especially in the direction of Vienna, could be considered
relevant (in the case of the planned connecting Austrian section, a mixed-use
option for passenger and cross-border freight traffic also appeared to be beneficial
due to the connection of a significant transit freight route in the direction of
Břeclav-Ostrava).
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA... 13
The planned high-speed rail 3 route corresponds i n direction with the
Prague-Pilsen electrified double-track railway line and the connected
Pilsen-Domazlice non-electrified single-track line. The route runs mainly
through a hilly relief to Pilsen and further to the border with Germany, where it
passes through border mountains. In this case, the routing through the Prague
municipal area and the impossibility of parallel routing with the existing line in
the Prague-Beroun section due to the densely populated river valley (associated
with the practically unsolvable problem of an abnormal increase in noise pollution)
can be identified as significant problems. The proposed technical measure is
the construction of an approximately 25 km tunnel. The gradient of the existing
lines was relatively low, except for the border section, where it exceeded 10%o.
Regarding the permeability of existing lines, 75% was exceeded only on short
sections near Prague and the border with Germany. The average group value for
capacity utilisation was 1.9. It seemed optimal to use the planned line for passenger
and freight transport. Such usage can significantly increase competitiveness with
road transport (in Germany, for example, the average speed of rail freight transport
on selected high-speed rail routes, which for operational reasons is carried
out only during night hours, is around 120 km/h).
The planned high-speed rail 4 route largely follows the current Prague-Usti nad
Labem electrified double-track railway line, which runs almost its entire length
through the valley of the Vltava and Elbe rivers and thus has very favourable
gradient parameters. As far as the construction of high-speed rail is concerned,
however, it is necessary to solve the problem of unsatisfactory spatial parameters
in the deeply incised Elbe valley stretching from Lovosice to Pirna in Germany,
which preclude the implementation of a parallel route with the old route. The
proposed solution is the construction of tunnels under the affected mountain
ranges (the approximately 26km international Ore Mountains Tunnel). It is obvious
that due to the enormous construction costs, the specific cost of building 1 km
of this route would be the highest of all of the planned routes (this fact should
be considered when setting construction priorities). In line with the geographical
characteristics, the 75% capacity utilisation threshold was not exceeded on
any section of the existing route; the calculated average value was 2.0. From an
operational point of view, the priority seemed to be passenger transport (although
the planned tunnel can also be assumed to be used for freight transport).
Based on a synthesis of the obtained knowledge, the identified high-speed
rail routes were ranked reflecting the intensity of the limiting effect of external
and then internal factors and their overall ranking according to the examined
relevance criterion (Table 5). In the case of identical rankings, landscape limits
were prioritised under natural factors and urban limits were prioritised under the
overall ranking of external factors, which usually have a decisive influence on the
cost of development. A similar approach was taken in the case of internal factors,
14 GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PAŘIL, M. FARBIAK
Table 5 - Ranking of planned high--speed rail routes
External factors Internal factors Overall ranking
Natural limits Urban limits Capacity utilisation Synergistic effects
Route 2 Route 2 Route 1 Route 1 Route 1
Route 3 Route 4 Route 4 Route 3 Route 3
Route 1 Route 3 Route 3 Route 4 Route 2
Route 4 Route 1 Route 2 Route 2 Route 4
Source: own research.
where the potential introduction of synergies with branching system linkages
to rail transport development were prioritised. The comparative position of the
planned routes within the internal factors was then considered more relevant for
the final aggregation of the assessment.
Table 5 shows that, overall, the longest high-speed rail 1 which had the best
position within both internal factors, but on the other hand showed the highest
urban limits of development. Second place went to the longest route, high-speed
rail 3, due to its relatively low landscape constraints and above-average synergistic
effects as well as the lowest level of positional differences across the factors
examined. The next shortest route, high-speed rail 2, was characterised by major
differences in its position within the external factors (best position) and within the
internal factors (worst position) and the corresponding highest level of positional
differentiation, high-speed rail 4 showed the worst position with the highest level
of landscape limits and a lower level of synergies.
5. Conclusion
The final synthesis of the evaluation of the usefulness and relevance criteria as
integral parts of the concept of a multi-criteria project evaluation provided valuable
information on the potential effectiveness of high-speed rail construction in
Czechia as one of the key national projects related to the construction of a single
European transport area. Table 6 presents the findings on the relative positions
of the planned routes.
In line with expectations (and the preference of Czech Railways), high-speed
rail 1, connecting the three largest urban agglomerations in Czechia, had the best
overall position, followed by high-speed rail 3 connecting these agglomerations
with the EU core (including the three most important foreign trade regions for
Czechia: the German Länder Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse), high-speed
rail 4 via Dresden to Berlin and then to the port of Hamburg, and high-speed rail 2
as a "connecting" route between the Czech and Austrian high-speed rail networks.
o
L
50 100 km
_ i I
Population
O 25,000 or less
O 25,001-50,000
O 50,001-150,000
Q 150,001-450,000
450,001 and more
<
>
i—
c
>
C
in
O
73
Z
n
m
n
XI
Fig. 2 - Usefulness and relevance criteria evaluation of the planned high-speed rail. The abbreviation RS (fast connection) is an alternative designation
of the planned high-speed rail routes by Czech Railway Administration which reflects its expected lower speed parameters (the discussed alternative
route RS5 and turns from the route RS4 to the city of most is also included). Source: own research.
73
>
16 GEOGRAFIE 127/X (2022) / M. VITURKA, V. PAŘIL, M. FARBIAK
Table 6 - Ranking of high-speed rail routes
Usefulness Relevance Total
HSR 1
HSR 4
HSR 3
HSR 3
HSR 1
HSR 2
HSR 1
HSR 3
HSR 4
HSR 2 HSR 4 HSR 2
Note: HSR - high-speed rail
Source: own research.
Figure 2 offers basic information on the geographical location and position of the
planned high-speed rail routes according to the examined criteria.
From a practical point of view, the achieved results provide useful data that
can be used for finding the optimal combination of speed and cost parameters
for planned high-speed rail routes with spatial and technical conditions for their
construction with a primary emphasis on the creation of positive externalities
and a reduction of negative externalities. The application of this approach
corresponds to the accepted hypothesis of the insufficient effectiveness of the
planned high-speed rail. The use of data from SIM cards seems to be a suitable
tool for determining relevant changes in traffic behaviour induced by increasing
the competitiveness of rail transport through the construction of a high-speed
rail network. However, it remains to be stated that in the preparations so far the
issues discussed above (despite positive foreign experiences) have not yet received
sufficient attention. This obvious fact should, in our opinion, lead to fundamental
innovations in the preparation of large investment projects within transport infrastructure
construction and, where appropriate, considered in policy decisionmaking
(especially in the less developed countries of Central and Eastern Europe).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The paper was prepared under the grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Czech
Republic (Operational Programme Research, Development and Education) "New Mobility High-Speed
Transport Systems and Transport Behaviour of the Population", MUNI 1312/2017,
id CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_026/000843.
EVALUATION OF THE USEFULNESS AND RELEVANCE CRITERIA...
ORCID
MILAN VITURKA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0036-9823
VILÉM PAŘIL
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9623-1935
MARTIN FARBIAK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1938-3211