Knowlton School Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning Zhenhua Chen co-edited a special virtual issue on High-Speed Rail and the Environment for Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, a top-ranking journal in the transportation field. The issue’s other two guest co-editors are Anthony Perl, Professor of Urban Studies and Political Science at Simon Fraser University, Canada, and Xingju Wang, Associate Professor of School of Traffic and Transportation at Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, China.

High-speed Rail and the Environment

High-speed rail (HSR), as a rapidly growing intercity transportation mode in Asia and Europe, runs at speeds of 250 km/h or higher, and provides a high-quality substitute for short and medium-distance flights, conventional rail, and bus services between major urban centers, as well as personal vehicles. HSR is also less carbon intensive than short-range air travel given that it operates on electricity, and hence is also considered more sustainable than conventional fossil fuel-based transportation systems. While many countries, such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and China, have already developed interconnected HSR systems at various scales, other countries, such as the United States, India and Malaysia, are still debating whether or not the considerable costs of HSR infrastructure development could be offset by its benefits.

This special issue aims to provide a better understanding of the linkages between HSR and the environment. We seek to add knowledge about the environmental impacts of HSR, in order to bring evidence to future deliberations about the role of this transportation option.

High-Speed Rail and the Environment
Edited by Zhenhua Chen, Anthony Perl, and Xingju Wang

Read more at Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment