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Writer's pictureRoss Lowrey

How does high speed rail promote regional growth?

Our colleague, Phil Potterton, considers the economic impacts of introducing high speed rail services from a major city to a regional urban centre can be determined by their Route Geography.  Route Geography is a term that incorporates the relative size of the urban centre and its current level of public transport services (air, rail and coach), which typically relate to the distance away from the major city.  The idea is that similar economic impacts occur in bands around a major city along with the extent of improvement in travel times to the nearest major city.


At this point Phil has applied the route geography scheme to Australia’s mainland southeast (including South Australia), rather than to the country as a whole and this illustration is tailored to that particular locale. There are just four ‘major cities’: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.


RG1:        Connecting two adjoining major cities (with populations over 1 million people) which have frequent air services up to about 1,000 km apart.


These cities are suitable for being connected by high speed rail, as long as the rail journey takes less than about 2 hours more time than the scheduled air travel time between the two cities.


Better connecting major cities with high frequency high speed services expands the travel market between the cities.  High speed services offer convenient, well-located travel (assuming suitably sited stations) that are competitive with air services.  High demand can lead to low fares which open the market for a wider range of cost-sensitive travellers.


RG2:        Connecting a regional centre (more than 10,000 people) which currently has frequent but slow rail services to a major city up to about 200km apart. 


The introduction of fast, frequent services increases commuting by regular travellers, as long as travel time is faster than self-drive, with a total travel time less than about 1 hour.  It encourages significant population shift into the regional centre and surrounding area, and is able to attract businesses to the regional centre with easy access to the major city.


RG3:        Connecting a regional centre which currently has infrequent and slow rail services (and are too close for viable air services) to a major city up to about 350km apart.


The introduction of fast services significantly reduces travel times compared with both public transport and self-drive.  Fast services increase tourism into the area and provide better access to city-based services, including those provided by visiting health specialists.  Regional centres can also see significant population growth and the opening of new business facilities, with regular services enabling convenient same day return travel (up about 2 hours travel time per trip).


RG4:        Connecting a regional centre which currently has infrequent and slow rail services and where air services are available, but have limited frequency and are costly, to a major city up to about 450km apart.


The introduction of fast ‘through’ services on a high speed line enables more frequent, more comfortable day return travel which might replace air transport.  They improve access to the major city which encourages tourism and some population shift into the regional centre, together with the possibility for business growth.


Phil's paper, "What transport problems can high speed rail solve and what opportunities can it enable?" will be available following the 27-29 November Australasian Transport Research Forum at https://australasiantransportresearchforum.org.au/papers/

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