Abstract
Scenic railway refers to the trains that operate for tourism purposes, which are mainly maintained for facilitating leisure activities, scenic tours, and heritage experiences. As both an extension of railway heritage and an important redevelopment method, this concept is meaningful for the touristic development of historical railways but has received less attention in academia. To understand the tourism and landscape values of scenic railways from a geo-historical perspective and discuss the recent techniques and methods for railway tourism, this article first introduces the relationship between railway and landscape and the concept of scenic railway in French literature. Secondly, it analyzes the current distribution of French scenic railways based on geographic information system (GIS) tools. Through georeferencing, mapping, data relating and joining, calculating, and classifying, different groups of scenic railways are systemized and published online. Following statistical treatment, the pattern of distribution of scenic railways in comparison with the standard-gauge railway system in France is revealed. Based on the discussions on scenic railways, further study should focus more on the landscape evaluation of scenic railways and its integration with other spatial technologies for deeper geo-analysis. Moreover, the research results can serve as a reference for the development of relative railway heritage and tourist activities.
Highlights
Railway, as a product of modern technologies, was created in the early 19th century in the United Kingdom (UK)
A magnitude-per-unit area from line features falling within a radius is obtained, and the results show that Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Upper Normandy, Ile de France, and Alsace are the regions with the highest railway density
Scenic railway has combined the meaning of landscape, heritage, and tourism used for leisure, entertainment, sightseeing, and heritage experience, mainly for the purpose of tourism rather than transportation, and these railways mainly originated for the reasons of exploring nature and protecting railway heritage
Summary
As a product of modern technologies, was created in the early 19th century in the United Kingdom (UK). Its invention has resulted in totally new experiences for visitors. Railway has strengthened connections between remote places, changed the ways of living and entertaining, and played a crucial role in social–economic growth [1]. Having been developed for nearly 200 years, the train is currently known as a basic element of the land transport system and regarded as a green method of moving due to its characteristics of low price, large capacity, limited environmental emission, and lower dependence on climatic conditions. Along with other industrial heritages, historical railways have gained wide attention in academia. Since the inscription of several historical railways by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
