How to Promote Sustainable Land-use Changes through Developing Intermodal High-speed Railway Stations: A Case Study in Portugal

This paper shows how the development of the railway system in most European countries had a key role both in the evolution of urban systems and regional dynamics. On the other hand, it can be said that railway stations might act as important drivers for promoting sustainable land-use changes. The Portuguese High-Speed Railway (HSR) project is as a major strategic transport scheme at both the Iberian and national levels. Its first stage comprises three routes. Of these, one links the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) with the Spanish border of Badajoz, being an integral part of the HSR between both Iberian capitals, whereas the other two form the Atlantic Axis, encompassing a system of cities ranging from Lisbon to Porto. The Lisbon to Porto HSR will be a 292 Km-long standard-gauge (1435mm) corridor, supplementing an historic and congested 146-years old main railway line. The new HSR line is expected to open by 2015, and will feature a limited number of intermediate stations, enabling an easy interchange with other transport modes, namely with the broad-gauge (1668mm) conventional rail network. The future intermodal “Leiria-AV” HSR station, one of the four intermediate railway stations within the Lisbon – Porto line, will be located between the neighbor cities of Leiria and Marinha Grande, in the industrial zone of Barosa, at around 120 Km North of Lisbon Metropolitan Area. This new intermodal HSR station is expected to function as a major regional interchange, by providing access to various urban centers, with support on both the tangential Western main railway line, and the A8 motorway. The centrality of the station, which will be at a 35 minutes travel time from LMA, will be an opportunity to integrate railway development, activity location and spatial planning both at the regional and local levels, aiming at sustainable patterns of development. The work presented in this paper is part of a broader research project on the topic “High Speed Railway in Portugal: Impacts and Intermodality within the Leiria Region,” which covers the analysis of a wide range of impacts.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Web
  • Features: Maps; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 30p
  • Monograph Title: European Transport Conference, 2010 Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01351725
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 14 2011 11:12AM