Air Transport versus High-Speed Rail: An Overview and Research Agenda

Figure 1

Comparison of air transportation and high-speed rail for a trip from Beijing Capital Times Square to Shanghai Hongqiao in China. Despite the large spatial distance of more than 1,200 km, passengers using either mode arrive approximately at the same time in Shanghai. This example highlights the substantially different competition range between both modes, compared to the standard values for other regions around the world (often 200–300 km).

(a) Travel mode: metro + aircraft

(b) Travel mode: metro + high-speed rail