scholarly journals Passenger Aviation and High Speed Rail: A Comparison of Emissions Profiles on Selected European Routes

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Prussi ◽  
Laura Lonza

Air transport has been constantly growing and forecasts seem to confirm the trend; the resulting environmental impact is relevant, both at local and at global scale. In this paper, data from various datasets have been integrated to assess the environmental impact of modal substitution with high speed rail. Six intra-EU28 routes and a domestic route have been defined for comparison. The airports have been chosen considering the share of the total number of passengers on flights to/from other EU Member States. Three scenarios have been proposed in the time period 2017–2025; aircraft types, distance bands, and occupancy rate are investigated on each scenario. The comparison with HSR service has been carried out only on passenger service and not for freight. The energy consumption and the consequent emissions for the aircraft have been estimated on the base of the available data for the mix of aircraft types, performing the routes. The results indicate the advantage of the high speed trains, in terms of direct CO2eq emissions per passenger km. Compared to a neutral scenario, with an annual passenger increment of 3.5%, the HSR substitution of the 5% and the 25% of this increment allow a GHG saving of 4% and 20%, respectively. Some of the analysed routes (e.g., Frankfurt Main–Paris CDG) have interesting GHG savings but the duration of the trip today is limiting for a real substitution. Moreover, there is general agreement that the extreme weather events induced by climate change will affect the functioning of the European transport system. In this sense, transportation by the rail mode is expected to play a significant role in strengthening the EU transport system, its resilience, and its reliability, as it is less immediately subject to the impacts of severe weather conditions.

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S342-S359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Miao ◽  
David Banister ◽  
Yanhong Tang ◽  
Min Li ◽  
Bao Xi

Recent years have seen an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events globally, and these have resulted in severe impacts on the transport system. To the means by which the transport system can be maintained under extreme weather events is an emerging topic in transport studies, and this is augmented by a growing concern about climate change. This paper considers transport system as dual-network composed of an interrelated operation level and management level that has some similarities with the theory behind the Wardrop Principle. Evidence from the case study on the snow event in South China in early 2008 is used to draw the dual-network formulation to generalise the law of maintaining the transport system under extreme weather. The mathematical models of the dual-network focus on entropic dynamics in the operation network and matching control activities in the management network. Quantitative evidence is provided to prove the methodology. Interactions through the form of information communication and organisational collaboration within and between networks are highlighted. Incentive mechanisms are emphasised for achieving effective anticipation, prevention and collaboration to coping with extreme weather events. This paper contributes to a better understanding about the role of networks, collective behaviour, information interchange and inter-organisational collaboration in influencing the maintenance of transport system under extreme weather conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Fleischhut ◽  
Stefan M. Herzog ◽  
Ralph Hertwig

AbstractAs climate change unfolds, extreme weather events are on the rise worldwide. According to experts, extreme weather risks already outrank those of terrorism and migration in likelihood and impact. But how well does the public understand weather risks and forecast uncertainty and thus grasp the amplified weather risks that climate change poses for the future? In a nationally representative survey (N = 1004; Germany), we tested the public’s weather literacy and awareness of climate change using 62 factual questions. Many respondents misjudged important weather risks (e.g., they were unaware that UV radiation can be higher under patchy cloud cover than on a cloudless day) and struggled to connect weather conditions to their impacts (e.g., they overestimated the distance to a thunderstorm). Most misinterpreted a probabilistic forecast deterministically, yet they strongly underestimated the uncertainty of deterministic forecasts. Respondents with higher weather literacy obtained weather information more often and spent more time outside but were not more educated. Those better informed about climate change were only slightly more weather literate. Overall, the public does not seem well equipped to anticipate weather risks in the here and now and may thus also fail to fully grasp what climate change implies for the future. These deficits in weather literacy highlight the need for impact forecasts that translate what the weather may be into what the weather may do and for transparent communication of uncertainty to the public. Boosting weather literacy may help to improve the public’s understanding of weather and climate change risks, thereby fostering informed decisions and mitigation support.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Nedžad Branković ◽  
Aida Kalem

The development of new technologies has significantly influenced railways modernization and has caused the appearance of high-speed rail which represent a safe, comfortable and ecologically sustainable way of transportation. The high-speed rail present a big step in a relation to conventional railways, where the biggest difference is speed which even entails a change of other organizational and operational parameters, better utilization of trains, higher performance of manpower and better service to users.  That is visible in many cities around the world where high-speed trains are used by billions of users. In the EU there is no unique high-speed railway network, besides that in many EU member countries various operational models are applied. The future of the high-speed railways market depends on political, economical and technical factors and challenges as high infrastructure costs, various rates of return on investment and the negative effects of economic crises. The main objective of the paper is to analyze infrastucture costs of high-speed rail in Europe and benefits such us  time savings, higher reliability, comfort, safety, reducing pollution and the release of capacity in the conventional rail network, roads and airport infrastructure.


2022 ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
José Cabezas ◽  
José Manuel Naranjo ◽  
Francisco Jesús Moral ◽  
Patricia Bratos

The development carried out in the last decades is degrading the ecosystems, damaging the existing biodiversity. One of the elements that is having the most impact on the deterioration of natural areas is the construction of transport infrastructures, among which are high-speed routes. These linear infrastructures are contributing to the deterioration of biodiversity enclaves, which contribute to providing highly relevant ecosystem services. Among these deteriorations are the processes of fragmentation and alteration of the landscape. This chapter analyses a situation that occurs in Spanish territory related to high-speed railways. This transport system began in Spain on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of Seville 1992. By this transport activity, the changes suffered in the landscape are calculated and analysed through Corine land cover data since its inception until the last report of 2018.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-238
Author(s):  
K. Grębowski ◽  
Z. Ulman

Abstract The following research focuses on the dynamic analysis of impact of the high-speed train induced vibrations on the structures located near railway tracks. The office complex chosen as the subject of calculations is located in the northern part of Poland, in Gdańsk, in the proximity of Pendolino, the high speed train route. The high speed trains are the response for the growing needs for a more efficient railway system. However, with a higher speed of the train, the railway induced vibrations might cause more harmful resonance in the structures of the nearby buildings. The damage severity depends on many factors such as the duration of said resonance and the presence of additional loads. The studies and analyses helped to determinate the method of evaluating the impact of railway induced vibrations on any building structure. The dynamic analysis presented in the research is an example of a method which allows an effective calculation of the impact of vibrations via SOFISTIK program.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Fernando Melo-Velandia ◽  
Camilo Andrés Orozco-Vanegas ◽  
Daniel Parra-Amado

Given the importance of climate change and the increase of its severity under extreme weather events, we analyze the main drivers of high food prices in Colombia between 1985 and 2020 focusing on extreme weather shocks like a strong El Ni˜no.We estimate a non-stationary extreme value model for Colombian food prices. Our findings suggest that perishable foods are more exposed to extreme weather conditions in comparison to processed foods. In fact, an extremely low precipitation level explains only high prices in perishable foods. The risk of high perishable food prices is significantly larger for low rainfall levels (dry seasons) compared to high precipitation levels (rainy seasons). This risk gradually results in higher perishable food prices. It is non linear and is also significantly larger than the risk related to changes in the US dollar-Colombian peso exchange rate and fuel prices. Those covariates also explain high prices for both perishable and processed foods. Finally, we find that the events associated with the strongest El Ni˜no in 1988 and 2016 are expected to reoccur once every 50 years.


Author(s):  
A. MAKSYMENKO

Priorities for a competitive and efficient EU transport system have been declared in the third White Paper published in 2011. The strategic priorities of European transport policy are integrated to other EU development priorities, including the European Green Deal, Territorial Agenda 2030. In December 2020 The European Commission presented “Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future”. This document has outlined the European transport system’s path towards achieving objectives of a sustainable, smart and resilient mobility. The priorities of the European transport system focus on environmental issues, sustainability, development of high-speed railways, expansion of rail freight and passenger transport markets, development of multimodal transportation, technologies for a further electrification and automation in transport, digitalization, deployment of innovations. Road freight transport accounted for more than two thirds of freight traffic in 2019. For the EU member states bordered to Ukraine (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania), the share of road freight transport has been growing since 2011. These countries are mostly involved in the international road freight transportation. The average distance for which goods were carried by international road freight transport in EU was 581 km in 2018. For Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania the average distance varied from 603 to 786 km. The countries that have joined the EU since 2004 accounted for 80 % of all cross-trade in the EU, which emphasized on the relative competitiveness of hauliers from these countries. Transport companies from Poland are the most active in freight transport between EU countries, in particular in cabotage. In 2020, the European Parliament adopted the Mobility Package I. However, some Members of EU countries, including Poland and Romania claimed against some statements of the Package, including the driver returns home and rules on cabotage operation.


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