Abstract
Innovations in high-speed rail (HSR) have had substantial effects on different stakeholders within and outside the railway system. As part of the European Shift2Rail research programme, several innovative solutions are developed for, among others, improving the HSR infrastructure. The Joint Undertaking behind this research program has set objectives for these innovations in terms of punctuality, capacity, and life cycle costs. With a focus on infrastructure-related innovations for HSR, this paper aims at assessing their impacts in relation to these targets. We review the relevant research literature about the effects of HSR innovations and their assessment. The paper presents a hybrid assessment methodology combing different approaches to assess capacity, punctuality, and cost effects. This contributes to reducing the existing gap that is found in the research literature. Based on a reference scenario for HSR line and collected data from different stakeholders, the results indicate that infrastructure innovations in HSR, being developed within the European Shift2Rail research programme, can contribute to reaching the target set for punctuality. Further innovations in HSR infrastructure and/or other railway assets may be needed to reach additional targets and for more accurate improvement values giving more insights into their impacts.
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Acknowledgements
This project has received funding from the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 777513. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the Shift2Rail JU members other than the Union.
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Appendices
Appendix 1—Abbreviations and Acronyms
- AL:
-
Accuracy levels
- CBA:
-
Cost-benefit analysis
- CCA:
-
Cross-cutting-activities
- DD:
-
Difference-in-differences
- EC:
-
European Commission
- EU:
-
European Union
- HSR:
-
High-speed rail
- IP:
-
Innovation programmes
- JU:
-
Joint Undertaking
- Kmph:
-
Kilometer per hour
- KPI:
-
Key performance indicator
- LCA:
-
Life-cycle analysis
- LCC:
-
Life-cycle cost
- MPDA:
-
Multivariate Panel Data Analysis
- PNV:
-
Present Net Value
- R&I:
-
Research and innovation
- SPD:
-
System Platform Demonstrator
- S2R:
-
Shift2Rail
- TD:
-
Technical demonstrator
- TGV:
-
high-speed train (Train à grande vitesse)
- UIC:
-
International Union of Railways (Union internationale des chemins de fer)
Appendix 2—Definitions of the Accuracy Levels
Accuracy levels | Cost value | Technical value |
|---|---|---|
Based on the market (for costs), physical prototype (for technical) | Improvement values based on prototypes and estimation of scale effect for series production as well as acceptable market prices based on first discussions among involved stakeholders | Improvement values based on results of a test in field or laboratory conditions (foreseen to be similar in the field) |
Based on a prototype (for costs), simulation/labs (for technical) | Improvement values are based on the evaluation of prototype cost without consideration of economies of scale | Improvement values based on results of the test under laboratory conditions (requiring further testing in the field), or simulations of the technology |
Model-based | Improvement values are based on prototype drawings or based on calculations for similar technologies or comparable methods | |
Expert estimation | Improvement values based on knowledge of experts | |
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Ait-Ali, A., Kurt, F., Isberner, A., Odolinski, K., Berg, M. (2023). Assessing Innovations in High-Speed Rail Infrastructure. In: Pagliara, F. (eds) Socioeconomic Impacts of High-Speed Rail Systems. IW-HSR 2022. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26340-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26340-8_13
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