FAST TRAINS
Transportation is the stuff that binds nations together. Without the modern superhighway network and the jet aircraft Western Europe could never have achieved the close economic integration it enjoys today. As highway and air space congestion grow and threaten to compromise this newly found accessibility, governments will increasingly turn their attention to alternative solutions to meeting transportation needs. In so doing they will be called upon to exercise the same kind of coordination that earlier characterized the planning of the European highway network and the air navigation system. The conventional aircraft is likely to continue as the preferred mode of long-distance travel--where high-speed lines more than compensate for the delays suffered on the ground at both ends of the trip. The motor vehicle (including the truck) may come to be used increasingly for only relatively short trips - distances of up to 60 miles - where instant availability and ability to go door-to-door are highly prized assets. For the intermediate distances of 60 to 360 miles, on the other hand - an intercity trip length quite prevalent within Western Europe - the railroad has the potential to outperform the motor vehicle and the aircraft on almost every ground: door-to-door travel time, comfort, convenience, reliability, and efficiency.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This article is excerpted from "The Future of European Intercity Transport," By Kenneth Orski, head of the OECD Division of Urban Affairs. Published in the OECD Observer, October 1972.
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Corporate Authors:
Committee for Environmental Information
438 North Skinker Boulevard
St. Louis, MO United States 63130 -
Authors:
- Orski, K
- Publication Date: 1973-4
Media Info
- Pagination: p. 6-10
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Serial:
- ENVIRONMENT
- Volume: 15
- Issue Number: 3
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: High speed rail; Intelligent transportation systems; Intercity travel; Network analysis (Planning); Transportation; Transportation planning
- Old TRIS Terms: Advanced systems
- Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Transportation (General);
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00047967
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jan 4 1976 12:00AM