Economic Evaluation of High-Speed Railway Development Based on Cost-Benefit Theory

Abstract

In order to evaluate the economy and rationality for the development of high-speed railway and to construct evaluation theory and method, we generalize, analyze and then classify the costs and benefits involved in high-speed railway construction and operation period, applying qualitative and quantitative methods based on cost-benefit theory. On this basis, we research the relationship between cost and benefit of high-speed railway development in the view of fixed and variable cost, direct and indirect benefit. Finally, we propose an empirical analysis of the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway. It is pointed that the general benefit outweighs the overall cost, and the indirect benefit exceeds the direct benefit throughout the whole process of construction and operation. The result indicates that the development of high-speed railway is financially feasible and rational.