High-speed Rail Operation Research Articles

Promotion Effects of High-Speed Rail on Urban Development: Evidence from Three Lines in China

Amid the vigorous development of the high-speed rail (HSR) network, local governments in China generally consider the construction of HSR as a crucial task in their regional development strategies. Currently, most provincial capitals and prefecture-level cities in the eastern and central regions of China already have operational HSR services. This study aims to examine a key question: has the objective of local governments to promote urban development through the construction of HSR been effective? The research selects cities along the Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Guangzhou, and Harbin–Dalian HSR lines as the study subjects. Based on the principles of proximity and similarity, cities with operational HSR and those without are chosen as the experimental group and the control group, respectively. Following the double difference (difference-in-differences) approach, an advantage index is proposed to systematically evaluate the impact of HSR operation on urban development from three dimensions: population aggregation, economic development, and expansion of construction land. Furthermore, the evaluation results are systematically clustered to identify city types that exhibit different promotional effects in various dimensions. The research findings indicate the following: (1) The promotion effect of HSR on the development of small to medium-sized cities is more reflected in economic growth and construction land growth. (2) The promotion effect of HSR on the development of large cities is more reflected in the growth of the employment population. (3) For smaller or economically less-developed cities, HSR may be detrimental to the aggregation of resident and employment populations. (4) Cities with moderate size and good economic development have the opportunity to use HSR to promote population aggregation. On this basis, combined with the findings above, strategies to promote the coordinated development of high-speed rail construction and urban systems are discussed.

Research on named entity recognition method for high-speed railway technology transformation project text

Abstract High-speed railway technology transformation projects are crucial to the layout of high-speed rail transportation production, high-speed rail safety, and high-speed rail operation and management. However, the data of high-speed railway technology transformation projects is mainly stored in the form of unstructured text, and the relevant personnel of high-speed railroad often need to manually go through the form to extract the key information of the project data and enter it into the system, with a low degree of automation and intelligence. Therefore, to improve the efficiency and quality of processing the data of high-speed railway technology transformation projects, and help the intelligent development of high-speed railways, this paper constructs the RoBERTa-BiLSTM-CRF fusion model to automate the identification of key information entities in the data of high-speed railway technology transformation project. The experimental data were selected as technology transformation project documents of a railway bureau from 2013 to 2022, and six defined entity types were identified. Experimental results show that the constructed model can effectively identify six types of defined entities, and the F1 value of each type of entity is above 90%. In addition, compared with other commonly used models, the F1 value has been significantly improved. The fusion model proposed in this paper can be used as a method to automatically extract key information for high-speed rail technology transformation projects.

Current status and prospects of research on safety situation awareness of high speed railway operation environment

PurposeThe safety of high-speed rail operation environments is an important guarantee for the safe operation of high-speed rail. The operating environment of the high-speed rail is complex, and the main factors affecting the safety of high-speed rail operating environment include meteorological disasters, perimeter intrusion and external environmental hazards. The purpose of the paper is to elaborate on the current research status and team research progress on the perception of safety situation in high-speed rail operation environment and to propose directions for further research in the future.Design/methodology/approachIn terms of the mechanism and spatio-temporal evolution law of the main influencing factors on the safety of high-speed rail operation environments, the research status is elaborated, and the latest research progress and achievements of the team are introduced. This paper elaborates on the research status and introduces the latest research progress and achievements of the team in terms of meteorological, perimeter and external environmental situation perception methods for high-speed rail operation.FindingsBased on the technical route of “situational awareness evaluation warning active control,” a technical system for monitoring the safety of high-speed train operation environments has been formed. Relevant theoretical and technical research and application have been carried out around the impact of meteorological disasters, perimeter intrusion and the external environment on high-speed rail safety. These works strongly support the improvement of China’s railway environmental safety guarantee technology.Originality/valueWith the operation of CR450 high-speed trains with a speed of 400 km per hour and the application of high-speed train autonomous driving technology in the future, new and higher requirements have been put forward for the safety of high-speed rail operation environments. The following five aspects of work are urgently needed: (1) Research the single factor disaster mechanism of wind, rain, snow, lightning, etc. for high-speed railways with a speed of 400 kms per hour, and based on this, study the evolution characteristics of multiple safety factors and the correlation between the high-speed driving safety environment, revealing the coupling disaster mechanism of multiple influencing factors; (2) Research covers multi-source data fusion methods and associated features such as disaster monitoring data, meteorological information, route characteristics and terrain and landforms, studying the spatio-temporal evolution laws of meteorological disasters, perimeter intrusions and external environmental hazards; (3) In terms of meteorological disaster situation awareness, research high-precision prediction methods for meteorological information time series along high-speed rail lines and study the realization of small-scale real-time dynamic and accurate prediction of meteorological disasters along high-speed rail lines; (4) In terms of perimeter intrusion, research a multi-modal fusion perception method for typical scenarios of high-speed rail operation in all time, all weather and all coverage and combine artificial intelligence technology to achieve comprehensive and accurate perception of perimeter security risks along the high-speed rail line and (5) In terms of external environment, based on the existing general network framework for change detection, we will carry out research on change detection and algorithms in the surrounding environment of high-speed rail.

Competition in cargo and passenger between high-speed rail and airlines—considering the vertical structure of transportation

High-speed rail (HSR) services are experiencing rapid global expansion, posing competition not only in the traditional passenger sector but also challenging air cargo with their attributes of speed and punctuality. In this study, we establish a straightforward model for air-HSR competition in both passenger and cargo markets, taking into account the vertical structure of transportation supply chain. We explore various market equilibria based on the combination of three factors: 1) HSR's provision of cargo services, 2) the integration or separation of HSR's ownership and operation, and 3) uniform or differentiated airport administrative fees for passenger and cargo airlines. The analytical results of our model indicate that the entry of HSR into the cargo market consistently enhances social welfare and may even improve the profit of cargo airlines. However, if airports adopt uniform pricing or there is vertical separation in HSR sector, this could potentially weaken the positive impact on welfare enhancement. These findings have important implications for transportation policy, highlighting how strategic management of infrastructure can significantly influence the effectiveness and societal benefits of HSR's expansion into cargo services.

High-speed railway ripples on the greenness: Insight from urban green vegetation cover

Less attention has been paid to the potential ecological pressures brought about by high-speed rail (HSR) while promoting urban prosperity. Based on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and multiple socio-economic and ecological data, this study examines the local effect and spatial spillover effect of HSR operation on green vegetation coverage (GVC) in Chinese cities from 2003 to 2014, using a difference-in-differences design and spatial econometrics. Main findings are: 1) HSR operation has reduced GVC of local cities by about 6.0%. Because HSR-triggered economic agglomeration has intensified the land development and increased the pollution emissions (represented by SO2 and dust), leading to the degradation of local green vegetation. 2) The local effects of HSR on urban GVC are heterogeneous. HSR operation seriously cuts down the GVC for development-saturated cities, slightly undercuts the GVC for cities with conventional railways, but positively boosts the GVC for ecotourism cities. 3) HSR operation increases the GVC of adjacent cities (cities contiguous to HSR-located cities) by about 3.8%. Because the economic siphoning effect of HSR on adjacent cities reduces their land needs and pollution emissions, thus providing conditions for the vegetation expansion. Note that the HSR’s impact on adjacent cities’ GVC is influenced by the economic disparity between HSR cities and their neighbors. This study re-identifies the role of the transportation infrastructure in reshaping ecological patterns, providing insights into regional sustainable development.

Does the High-Speed Rail Improve Employment in Peripheral Cities? Evidence From China’s Beijing–Shanghai HSR Line

This study addresses the impacts of high-speed rail (HSR) on the employment rate on the periphery of HSR-connected cities. Using the Chinese municipal-level data sets of 2001 to 2017s, we have found that HSR could improve the average employment in peripheral cities on the route. However, HSR negatively affects employment in small and medium-sized peripheral cities while the large-sized peripheral cities benefit from its operation. Our evidence shows that the “siphon effect” on employment of large-sized peripheral cities on smaller neighbors happened specifically in the manufacturing sectors. This study provides important policy implications for HSR cities with different sizes and characteristics. Small- and medium-sized periphery HSR cities could appropriately response to HSR operation by readjusting the structure of manufacturing sectors, in order to avoiding employment loss.

Impact of high-speed rail operation on urban economic resilience: Evidence from local and spillover perspectives in China

Based on the panel data of 280 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2019, this paper provides an empirical investigation of the mechanism and the impact of high-speed rails (HSRs) on urban economic resilience. The economic resilience evaluation has been constructed from three levels: risk resistance ability, organization and adjustment ability, as well as renewal and development ability. The difference-in-differences (DID) model and spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model are adopted to analyze the impact of the HSR service intensity on the urban economic resilience. Results imply that the HSR has significantly improved the urban economic resilience along the lines. Further analysis shows that HSR mainly increases the economic resilience through potential effect of human resources, dynamic effect of new economic sectors and vitality effect of innovation output. From a spatial spillover perspective, HSR not only improves the local economic resilience, but also improves that of neighboring cities. The spatial spillover effect of HSR conforms to the law of geographic distance attenuation with spillover coefficient changes. Moreover, the study documents a series of heterogeneity analysis concerning HSR effects across Chinese cities. Particularly, HSRs promote the development of talents, new economic sectors, as well as innovation output, and help resource-based cities unlock their over-reliance on resource industries, thereby improving their economic resilience. This paper introduces the concept of urban economic resilience into the analysis framework of HSR effect, and measures the geographical boundary and effective scope of the HSR's spillover effect. It provides a new lens for the sustainable development of transportation-regional social economy.

Research on Passengers’ Preferences and Impact of High-Speed Rail on Air Transport Demand

The new high-speed rail (HSR) routes are expected to have a large impact on air transport demand. In some cases, HSR can be a complementary mode to air transport. However, a number of studies have pointed out that HSR can have a negative impact on air transport demand. Various approaches have been used to model mode choice behaviour, such as the discreet choice model, logistic regression and the analytical hierarchy process. OLS and MLE are two methods that are commonly used for parameter estimations. However, these approaches have some limitations. This study aims to understand the travel behaviour, mode choice model, travel variables and the impact of HSR operation on air transport demand through a systematic literature review. This study explores various approaches that are used to model mode choice and identify possible alternative approaches to overcome the limitations of current methods. The key variables that influence mode choice and the impact of HSR operation are elaborated in this study. Several points can be concluded from the analysis of the literature, such as: (1) the operation speed set by HSR should be reliable to enable it to compete with airplane travel time; (2) the model to represent mode choice behaviour should be derived from a suitable analysis method and Bayesian method is one of the alternatives for the parameter estimation; (3) there are various variables that are yet to be included in the current mode choice models, and they can be further explored to better present the needs of the customers; and (4) the impact of HSR operation on airplane travel demand, explained by previous studies, can be used as a reference for the policy maker in implementing transport projects.

The evolution of spatial equity of high-speed rail accessibility in China: An operation frequency based approach

The spatial equity of high-speed rail (HSR) accessibility in China has been a research topic for years. Most of current researches do not consider the impact of HSR operation frequency on accessibility. This study proposes an improved accessibility measurement taking frequency as an important factor and then analyzes the HSR accessibility and its spatial equity in China for the years of 2015, 2018, and 2021. Having defined spatial equity as the disparity of accessibility distribution, this study applies the Theil index to explore spatial equity and its changes over the three stages, as well as the regional difference among city groups based on geographical locations and administrative levels. The results demonstrated that the spatial distribution of HSR services accessibility in China was high in the East and low in the West. Only a few cities have the highest level of IAS (Improved Accessibility Score) which leads to a strong polarization in frequency-based accessibility. Spatial equity of accessibility has improved from 2015 to 2021, but HSR services developed more equally than HSR infrastructure networks from 2018 to 2021. When grouped by geographical locations, the West region has the worst spatial equity regarding IAS; however, the Northeast region has the worst spatial equity of OAS (Original Accessibility Score) in 2021. When grouped by cities’ administrative levels, the group of provincial capitals has better spatial equity regarding IAS but did not have better spatial equity of OAS until 2021.

Does High-Speed Rail Really Have a Positive Effect on City Consumption? A PSM-DID Approach With China Case

<p>This paper evaluates the treatment effect of high-speed rail (HSR) operation on city consumption using the dataset of Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019. Firstly, the applicability of observations is discussed; secondly, observations with no appropriate contrast samples are dropped for more precise empirical results. Then, propensity score matching (PSM) is implied to have the database much more balanced and suitable for the difference-in-difference (DID) framework, that is, the PSM-DID approach. The main results find a novel phenomenon of Simpson's paradox regarding the HSR-consumption nexus, which indicates that even though we can observe the positive effect on the whole, the results argue negative relationships between HSR and consumption within subclass cities. In addition, a dose-response assessment (DR) and some other checks have been proposed to demonstrate robust estimation results.</p>

Correlation Analysis between Rail Track Geometry and Car-Body Vibration Based on Fractal Theory

The effect of track geometry on vehicle vibration is a major concern in high-speed rail (HSR) operation from the perspectives of ride comfort and safety. However, how to quantitatively characterize the relation between them remains a problem to be solved in track quality assessment. By using fractal analysis, this paper studies the detailed correlation between track surface and alignment irregularities and car body vertical and lateral acceleration in various wavelength ranges. The time-frequency features of the track irregularity and car-body acceleration are first analyzed based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Then, the fractal features of the inspection data are determined by calculating the Hurst exponent of their intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Finally, the fractal dimensions of the track irregularity and car-body acceleration are obtained, and the correlation between their fractal dimensions with respect to different IMFs is revealed using regression analysis. The results show that the fractal dimension is only related to the roughness of the IMF waveforms of the track irregularity and car-body vibration and is irrelevant to the amplitude of the time series of the data; the correlation coefficient of the fractal dimension of the track irregularity and car-body acceleration is greater than 0.7 for wavelengths greater than 30 m, indicating that the relationship between track irregularity and car-body vibration acceleration is more obvious for long wavelengths. The findings of this research could be used for optimizing HSR track maintenance work from the viewpoint of the ride quality of high-speed trains.

Exploring spatial heterogeneity in the high-speed rail impact on air quality

As high-speed rail (HSR) proliferates, there is a growing interest in examining its impact on air quality. Previous studies have largely ignored its heterogeneous effects among air pollutants and across regions. Using longitudinal data from China, this study developed spatial difference-in-difference models to examine the relationships between HSR and air quality from a multi-pollutant and multi-scale perspective. We found that at the national level, the operation of HSR is associated with a better air quality, which mainly attributes to the spillover effects of HSR on the environment. However, at the regional level, the effect of HSR on air quality can be either positive or negative, depending on the socio-economic conditions of the regions. In particular, HSR has a negative effect on local air quality in Northeast China, but improves neighboring cities' air quality in Northeast and Central China. In Central China, HSR operation only has a significant negative effect on AQI of neighboring cities. In East and West China, HSR has negative correlations with AQI of both local and neighboring cities, but none of them is statistically significant. The impacts of HSR on different air pollutants also vary across regions. These findings suggest that region-specific policies are needed to address the impacts of HSR on air quality in different regions.

High-speed rail effects on station area-level business commercial agglomeration: Evidence from 110 stations in China

As a critical transportation infrastructure, high-speed rail (HSR) greatly enhances accessibility and shortens the spatial-temporal distance among cities. It is well documented that HSR significantly impacts regions and cities’ economic development and spatial structure. The proportion and frequency of business passenger trips are increasing yearly, and the demand for “station as the final destination” is becoming more and more prominent. Given the pivotal role of the design and construction of HSR station areas in achieving “station as the final destination,” the study of their development characteristics and patterns has important implications for urban planning. Previous studies have focused extensively on the macro impact of the HSR operation on regional economies, urban industries, and tourism development, whereas only a few were conducted at the station level. Furthermore, the business-commercial agglomeration effects of the HSR operation on the development and construction of station areas have neither been studied nor accurately measured. To fill this gap, we first constructed a panel data set consisting of the point of interest (POI) data, China City Statistical Yearbook data, and the HSR station operation data from 2012 to 2017. Next, we developed difference-in-differences (DID) models to decipher the impact of the HSR operation on the station-level business and commercial agglomeration. The results show that the HSR operation has increased the business-commercial agglomeration index (BCAI), the commercial agglomeration index (BAI), and the business agglomeration index (CAI) by 28.3%, 29%, and 21.3%, respectively. In other words, the HSR operation has significant business-commercial agglomeration effects in the station area, and the agglomeration effect size of business is more extensive than that of commerce. Interestingly, the BCAI grew slowly in the first 3 years after the HSR operation but started to rise much faster from the fourth year, which HSR’s catalytic effects can explain. The results also reveal that the business-commercial agglomeration effects have a clear spatial threshold as the BCAI tends to decrease from 1500 m to 3000 m away from HSR stations. The plausibility of the results has been confirmed by the parallel trend, placebo, and robustness tests.

The impact of high-speed rail on urban economy: Synergy with urban agglomeration policy

The economic externality of transportation infrastructure is related to the local policy environment. China's high-speed rail (HSR) is developing simultaneous with urban agglomeration (UA). This study examines the synergy of HSR operation and UA policy implementation on the urban economy. With the data on 285 prefecture-level cities of China joining the HSR network and UAs from 2003 to 2018, we use staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design to test the individual and joint impacts of HSR and UA policy on urban economy respectively. Our result shows that the joint impact of the two interventions is significantly stronger than the individual impact, which means the existence of the synergy effect. Exploration of the synergy mechanism identifies three channels through which the HSR effect is strengthened by UA policy: (a) Institutional integration effect: UA policy has eliminated the administrative barriers in HSR operation. (b) Spillover effect: UA policy has diffused the benefits of HSR, and (c) Efficiency effect: UA policy planning has strengthened the drive of HSR to urban efficiency. In addition, we find the specific sequence of intervention, the inauguration of HSR after the implementation of UA policy, can better promote the economy. Finally, a heterogeneity analysis is performed to study the impacts on center cities and non-center cities. We emphasize the importance of the cooperation of transportation infrastructure and regional policies, and provide a theoretical basis for the development of HSR industry and the implementation of UA strategy in China.

High-speed rail network and urban agglomeration economies: Research from the perspective of urban network externalities

High-speed rail (HSR) has greatly promoted cross-regional economic activities, but few studies have been conducted from the perspective of urban network externalities (UNEs). Based on data from China from 2008 to 2019, this paper constructs an HSR operation network model to study the impact of the network position (NP) on urban agglomeration economies (UAEs) by jointly employing network and econometric analysis methods. The findings suggest the following: (1) Improvements to NP significantly enhance UAEs. Improving the comprehensive NP by 1% will increase urban output per capita by 193.5–226.8 RMB. The findings hold under several robustness tests. (2) The NP's facilitation of growth in UAEs is reflected mainly in national core cities, while the impact of peripheral cities reflects a “∽-shaped” curve as their distance from each nearest neighboring core city changes. (3) From the temporal-dynamic perspective, the NP's impact on UAEs appeared one year before the HSR line was opened and was fully realized three years after the opening of the HSR. (4) Investment agglomeration and expansions in borrowed size are the main mediating mechanisms whereby NP facilitates UAEs.

Revealing the transmission mechanism and spatial spillover of carbon emission reduction caused by high-speed rail opening.

In the context of China’s commitment to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, as well as its strategy to build a strong transportation country, it is of foremost importance to study the carbon emission reduction effect of the opening of high-speed rail (HSR). This paper innovatively introduces the frequency of HSR stops as an indicator of HSR operation, and uses a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model, a mediating effect model and a spatial DID model to assess the direct and indirect impact, transmission mechanism, and spatial spillover effects of the opening and operation of HSR on carbon emission reduction based on a panel of 279 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2017. We found that the opening and operation of HSR significantly reduced urban carbon emissions. The direct transmission mechanism analysis shows that the opening of HSR can reduce carbon emissions by replacing highway passenger traffic. Indirect mechanism analysis shows that the opening of HSR can reduce carbon emissions through technological effect, structural effect and opening effect. The test of spatial spillover effect shows that the opening of HSR can promote carbon emission reduction not only in node cities, but also in neighboring cities.

High-Speed Rail and Urban Growth Disparity: Evidence from China

We investigate the effects of high-speed rail (HSR) operation on urban growth disparity in China. Using urban panel data from 2005 to 2019 and difference-in-differences estimation, we find that the operation of HSR has exerted a strong and robust positive effect on urban growth and total factor productivity (TFP) in core cities, while this effect is much weaker in non-core cities, especially in non-core cities close to provincial capitals. Meanwhile, high-speed rail has triggered relatively slower urban growth in the central cities compared with the suburbs in regional primate prefectures. The results suggest that the extension of HSR promotes centralization across cities and local decentralization within regional primate cities.

Physiological responses and stress levels of high-speed rail train drivers under various operating conditions - a simulator study in China

ABSTRACT The stress level of high-speed rail (HSR) train drivers directly impacts their job performance and thus the safety of HSR operations. This paper attempts to develop a quantitative understanding of train drivers’ stress levels and the contributing factors by the experimental study conducted in a realistic HSR simulator. An extensive statistical analysis found that the ultra-short-term heart rate variability metrics could differentiate different stress levels. Three different machine-learning classifiers were evaluated for stress detection, including support vector machine (SVM), random forests (RF), and K-nearest neighbour (KNN). The RF model was shown to perform the best in terms of robustness and classification accuracy. Moreover, the research found that the driver’s stress level should be detected rather than the type of stressor. The findings from this research could contribute to the development of real-time HSR driver condition monitoring systems and the improvement of current HSR operation safety regulations.

Does High-Speed Rail Operation Reduce Ecological Environment Pressure?—Empirical Evidence from China

With improved productivity, the impact of social and economic development on the ecological environment is becoming more and more significant, and the transformation of transportation modes often accompanies the transformation of the economic development mode. It is essential to study the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on the environment. This article constructs a compiled index Ecological Environment Pressure (EEP) evaluation system. The spatial analysis tool is then used to explore the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of EEP in China. The Difference-in-Difference (DID) method and the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method are used to quantitatively calculate the impact of HSR operations on EEP based on Panel Data. The results show that the EEP in China decreased significantly from 2003 to 2018, and therefore the quality of China’s ecological environment is improving. The regression coefficient of HSR on EEP is significantly negative, indicating that HSR operations will reduce EEP. Additionally, the HSR operation in the eastern and central regions negatively impacts the EEP. At the same time, the HSR operations will also reduce the EEP of resource-based cities, especially for resource-based cities in the central region. The degree of industrial transformation (DIT) and degree of employment transformation (DET), combined with the implementation of HSR operations, can significantly reduce the EEP. It is suggested to formulate more focused actions and policies to reduce EEP and effectively promote sustainable social development.

How China's high-speed rail promote local economy: New evidence from county-level panel data

This study uses Chinese county-level panel data to determine the effect of high-speed rail (HSR) connection on local economic growth. We find that HSR connection promotes economic growth, and this effect becomes increasingly obvious over the HSR operation time. Besides, HSR connection may affect the relationship between local and neighboring areas. When local and neighboring areas are HSR-connected, a cooperative relationship occurs at the average level of industry structures. When local areas are HSR-unconnected but neighboring areas are HSR-connected, a certain degree of spillover effect occurs rather than a siphon effect. Moreover, the increase of HSR connectivity not only optimizes the allocation of production factors within urban agglomerations but also generally promotes convergence of regional economies.