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Airline and railway disintegration in China: the case of Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub

A third model that is offered is the Integrated hub model: short-haul services are provided by

the airlines using the railways (rather than aircraft) to feed traffic into the airlines’ long-haul
services (Givoni and Banister 2006; Givoni 2007a, 2007b).
In the Integrated hub model, rail services may be provided to those destinations which are
currently served by aircraft, and in this case, mode substitution takes place. Rail services
may also be to destinations that are not currently served by aircraft and by that expand the
airline’s network, creating a win–win situation for both railway and airline industries. Mode
substitution can potentially also provide significant environmental benefits, especially air and
noise pollution around airports, although the environmental impacts of air transport could
worsen if runway capacity freed through mode substitution is taken up by new (longer routes)
air services (Givoni 2007b). Albalate, Bel, and Fageda (2015) demonstrate for three European
countries that the introduction of HSR services on routes where air services were in operation,
does not necessarily lead to reduction in flight frequency, even if the number of seat supplied
is lower.

The success of airline and railway integration requires a close cooperation and collaboration
between the airline and railway operator. According to Givoni and Banister (2006), the
commercial agreement between the airline and railway operator can take different forms,
similar to cooperation agreements airlines sign between them (e.g. code-share agreements).
There is no reason for code-share agreements, whereby one airline operates the flight, but many
can offer it to their passengers, to not include rail service providers (Chiambaretto and Decker
2012). In Europe, Lufthansa operates rail services as part of its network on several routes, such
as Frankfurt–Stuttgart and Frankfurt–Cologne. The rail service is actually operated by Deutsche
Bahn (DB) but carries a Lufthansa code. Another example of commercial agreements between
airlines is the formation of airline alliances. Unfortunately, the railways have largely remained
outside of these agreements (Givoni 2015).
A prerequisite for airline and railway integration is the colocation of a railway station at the
airport. The most favorable situation is to directly integrate railway stations into the main
passenger terminal(s) of airports, which will create a seamless intermodal transfer. Amsterdam
Schiphol airport is such a good example. In addition, the railway station needs to be a through
station (providing a high-frequency service to many destinations) rather than an end of the line
station. For more discussion on airline and railway integration see Givoni and Banister (2006),
Givoni (2007a, 2007b) and Givoni and Rietveld (2008).

Figure 1. The Integrated Hub model of H&S operation (Source: Givoni 2015).
Note: HST – High-Speed Train.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 63