High speed, energy consumption and emissions

The purpose of the study is to identify and quantify energy and environmental characteristics of high speed trains. The study only covers three variables: 1. Final energy consumption. 2. Consumption of primary energy or fossil fuels. 3. CO2 emissions. Energy differences and advantages of conventional trains in relation to other modes of transport will be observed first, therefore identifying factors inducing train consumption and differences according to train and lines. The characteristics of the high speed system with respect to conventional trains will be analysed next, checking to see whether these accumulate or become diluted with increasing speed, and whether their source is the infrastructure, the vehicle or the operation. Thirdly, we will analyse the effect of the shift of traffic from other modes of transport to high speed trains for varying speeds, checking in each case the effect of consumption on the whole corridor.