Page 374 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 5

Pagliara, Francesca. Menicocci, Fabrizio.Vassallo, José Manuel. Gómez Sánchez, Juan.

space organization of the facilities and opportunities individuals are seeking to access. According
to Cass, et al. (2005), HSR improves trips for working purposes by providing fast rail connections
between main cities. On the other hand users who cannot afford HSR or live far from stations
can be socially excluded and have problems when searching for better jobs. The introduction
of a public transport system plays an important role in the social exclusion or inclusion of
“transport poor” populations. HSR might encourage a hyper-mobile society, which can abandon
people without access to the fastest modes of transport. This can be avoided only through
thoughtful policies.
The study carried out in Spain by Monzón, et al. (2010) highlights the role played by the
selection of the commercial speed. Indeed, an increase from 220 km/h to 300 km/h, in a
given corridor, results in significant negative impacts on spatial equity between locations with
and without a HSR service. At this point, it is necessary to point out that HSR cannot reach
certain locations due to geographical and/or economic reasons. The same authors propose
an assessment methodology for HSR projects following a twofold approach, i.e. addressing
issues of both efficiency and equity. The procedure uses spatial impact analysis techniques
and is based on the computation of accessibility indicators. Efficiency impacts are evaluated
in terms of increased accessibility resulting from HSR projects, with a focus on major urban
areas. Likewise, spatial equity implications are derived from changes in the distribution of
accessibility values among these urban agglomerations (Monzón, et al., 2013).

For the case of China, Chen and Wei (2013) addressed the case study of the Hangzhou East Rail
station. This area is undergoing a rapid industrialization and thus workers’ level of income is
increasing significantly. However, HSR is still not affordable for the majority of the population.
Also in China, Shi and Zhou (2013) aim at analysing transportation equity issues in terms of
accessibility change experienced in those cities served by the HSR network. The main research
findings, from the equity assessment perspective, reveal that investments in HSR systems do
not have a strong impact in fostering social exclusion in terms of being excluded from the use
of the new high speed services.
The case study of Italy was treated by Pagliara and Biggiero (2017). They conducted a Revealed
Preference survey to identify the main motivations influencing travellers’ choice of HSR, and
found that users travelling alone choose HSR because of the reduction in travel time. Moreover
the cost has an impact on the choice of this service because of the early booking convenient
fares, which allow saving money to those travelling within given time periods. On the other
hand, for those who have not chosen HSR, the main reason is the geographical exclusion, i.e.
the low accessibility to the departure/arrival station. It follows the economic exclusion, i.e.
the high cost of the HSR ticket. According to the authors, the fact that both criteria are greatly
perceived by low income classes can be interpreted by the residential location of travellers.
Furthermore, a quantitative approach was proposed to evaluate mode choice and the perception
of social exclusion, considering two main aspects: economic and geographical exclusion. The
analysis concluded a significant influence of income and the perceived geographical exclusion on
intercity travellers’ mode choice.Some of the previous results have been confirmed by a further
Revealed Preference survey in UK (Pagliara, et al., 2017). In this case the main motivation for
those who have not chosen HSR is the economic exclusion, followed by the low accessibility to
the departure/arrival station. In addition, the results of the study suggests that the introduction
of a new transport mode, available in few points of the territory, brings social inequality, mainly
perceived in terms of economic and geographical exclusion. Without thoughtful policies, HSR
systems will encourage a hyper-mobile society that may abandon people without access to the
fastest transport modes.

3. The HSR system in Spain

Since January 2016, Spain has the world´s second longest high-speed network, after China,

372 360.revista de alta velocidad