VHS - The Very High Speed Solution of Rail

The history of transport has been marked by a constant pattern: the acceleration of mobility. Today, trains can run at a commercial speed above 250 Km/h. Very high speed rail (VHS) has dramatically changed inter-modal competition, allowing rail to compete directly with air transport on medium distances. It is thus responding adequately to mobility demand. But that is not its only advantage.

The environmental rationale

VHS rail is a relevant solution to drastically decrease passenger transport’s emissions. Firstly, VHS rail produces least CO2 emissions, thanks to its very low energy consumption. French ADEME statistics show that on a 500-km trip, high speed trains generate 7 gr of CO2 per passenger per kilometre, busses produce 17 gr of CO2 pkm, individual cars produce 47 gr CO2 pkm, planes produce 66 gr CO2 pkm. Moreover, wherever a VHS rail project has been implemented it has created a dramatic modal shift. For instance, on the Madrid-Sevilla line, rail modal share grew from 19 to 53% after the opening of the VHS line. This engenders a dramatic decrease in energy consumption, air pollution and CO2 emissions. Secondly, land requirement to build a VHS line is much smaller than for motorways. Thirdly, when a new VHS line is built, it frees capacity on conventional lines. This capacity can be used for freight, thus decreasing bottlenecks. If a modal shift subsequently occurs in the freight segment, this has, in turn, a supplementary beneficial effect for the environment.

The safety rationale

Very high speed rail is the safest mode of transport. So far there have not been any fatalities in a TGV accident in France. In 2001, the average number of people killed per bn pkm was 0.2 for conventional rail, 0.4 for air transport, 0.4 for busses and coaches and 5.9 for passenger cars.

The socio-economic rationale

VHS rail investments have a dramatic effect on the economy. For instance, in Spain, the construction of the VHS network has had a total effect on the Spanish GDP of about 2.5% (due to the economic shock, the demand effect and the productivity increase). Locally, VHS rail also has a lasting impact on the competitiveness of the territories that are connected with it. Andalusia, once one of the poorest Spanish regions, has encountered a dramatic growth since the opening of the Madrid-Seville line in 1992. Thus, VHS rail makes sense from the perspective of the EU cohesion policy. Although it is mostly a Western European system so far, if it is implemented as well in Central and Eastern Europe, VHS rail can contribute to closing the gap between the current cohesion regions and the richer European regions. Finally, connecting Western and Eastern Europe with a very high speed rail network would globally improve the competitiveness of the continent.

Therefore, UNIFE believes that the European Union should take action in order to encourage the development of a truly European very high speed rail network.

UNIFE Links
To access the UNIFE publication on VHS Trains (17.03.2008) please click here

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