High Speed Rail & Sustainability

Transport systems bring enormous benefits to society providing access and mobility that are essential for modern societies and economic growth. However, transport activities have many undesirable external impacts as well, such as CO2 emissions, congestion, accidents, land use and many more. At the same time, the transport sector will face many challenges in the future such as demographic development, urbanization, and the scarcity of natural resources, as well as increases in oil and energy prices. Meanwhile, the increase in travel demand could lead to overcrowded airports, delayed flights and congested roads. The urge to fight these challenges is therefore pushing economies toward more efficient, and sustainable, solutions. Rail, and particularly High Speed Rail (HSR), is an important means to meeting these challenges and contribute to sustainable mobility development.