Article: What Makes The Best Rail Networks So Good?

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Veen Space Blog --> What Makes The Best Rail Networks So Good?


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Rail network quality measured by the network's punctuality and its usage. The more in the topright corner, the busier the network and the better its punctuality.

In general, the best rail networks in the world are the Dutch, Swiss and Japanese networks. They are the busiest networks and still maintain really great punctuality. Whereas most networks tend to lose punctuality as they grow, these three networks have grown into the most solid and busy networks in the world.  What makes them different from the rest?

When the car took over the world, passenger rail transport had a bleak future. After all, it was thought that by the turn of the millennium, cars and planes would provide in all transportation needs. Compared to nowadays, most networks were poorly optimized, had terrible transfer times and was fragmented. Rail transport was doomed to fade away, being outcompeted at an immense speed.

And in most countries, rail transport did experience quite a downfall. The British network was deemed uneconomic in the late sixties by British Rail MP Richard Beeching and was trimmed down heavily. Small, local lines were cut with "Beeching's Axe" in favor of the larger, more profitable lines.

But not all countries experienced these network cuts. The Dutch government saw its network as a whole and decided not to cut the unprofitable lines, because they often were feeders for the larger rail lines. Besides that, the government saw public transport as an important societal benefit, so instead of trimming it down, the government decided to invest in the Dutch Railways. They had the ambitions to outcompete the car and presented the Spoorslag '70 in 1970, a full-scale plan that included 40% more trains, enhance the network significantly and to introduce 9 new Intercity trains that would connect the 40 largest stations without stopping for smaller villages. Efficiency, better trains and consistent schedules led to massive increases in ridership. Some years later, the Swiss rail followed in these footsteps. Combined with the construction of one of the earlier high-speed lines, the Swiss network saw a 75% increase in passengers in just 12 years.

While these European networks were improved, the Japanese already had their first complete high-speed rail line. Shinji Sogo foresaw the rise of the automobile early on and pushed the development of the bullet train, which he believed was much more efficient for the future. In 1964 the Tōkaidō line between Tokyo and Osaka was completed and became a gigantic success. It connected two of the largest cities in Japan, reducing the travel time from 6 hours by car or train to just 3 hours and 10 minutes. This radically changed the way the two cities interacted, as daytrips were now possible. Business between the city flourished. In 1976, just twelve years after opening, the Tōkaidō line welcomed its billionth passenger (that's 230k per day!). It came as no surprise that the Japanese went on to extend the high speed lines.

In the following decades, France and Germany became the leaders in high speed rail. The French Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV, 'train at large speeds') and the German ICE (Intercity Express) became household names, but couldn't match the sheer volume and density of the fast-growing Japanese network. The Netherlands and Switzerland are small enough countries that they barely needed high speed rail to connect large cities and could thus greatly improve the intercity networks. Through consistent and valuable upgrades, these networks grew massively and are still experiencing growth. These three rail companies had the right conditions and took the right decisions to grow to the top of the charts. While other countries were quick to follow, they often had problems implementing the plans or funding the necessary projects.

The common denominator between the three networks is that when faced with a new and fierce competitor, the networks decided to innovate. While the geography of the countries certainly played an important factor, it is primarily the progressive stance on infrastructure and innovation that made these networks into the best.


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[#Metro]

It is a pity that the analysis did not plot usage vs punctuality for individual systems, rather than for countries.