Interaction of regional and high-speed transport in transport services: case study of Praha-Brno high-speed railway line in Vysočina region

Abstract

The paper assesses the future interaction between the projected high-speed rail (HSR) and regional transport in the Czech Republic (CZ) with the aim of analysing potential interchanges. The current decentralisation of transport service orders of regions and the liberalisation of the railway market create a complex system that poses many challenges for modern railway transport in CZ. Although these aspects improve rail transport due to competition within the existing network, at the same time they make it more complicated for passengers. Moreover, the effects of competition are not limited to certain lines, and its effects are only noticeable in selected parts of the network. There are already many conflicts between regional and conventional long-distance transport, such as transport concept, the carrier, the timetable and the capacity of the trains and the compatibility of travel documents. These conflicts will naturally be present even in the case between regional and high-speed long-distance transport. The construction of high-speed networks should improve accessibility to major centres such as Prague and Brno and at the same time further connect Europe, as the current state of rail transport in CZ is not satisfactory in terms of speed. This construction could not only improve the transport within the country, but also improve the international transport through CZ as the centre of Europe. High-speed and regional transport are not mutually exclusive, but can create synergies that will offer people an alternative to travelling individually by car. Whether it is an alternative to commuting to an HSR terminal or an alternative to the journey itself. This paper is a case study of the availability of the high-speed terminal in the Prague – Brno high-speed line (HSL), for the Vysočina region. The location and presence of a terminal can determine the disparity of regions, and consequently of cities that have/do not have access to HSL and thus influence the inclusion of these fast transport systems in the regions. In the paper is stated the optimal variant of the HSL line from the feasibility study, as well as the current traffic flows and the forecast of traffic demand in the selected region where the high-speed line Prague – Brno will lead. According to the best routing option according to the feasibility study of the infrastructure manager – Správa železnic, s. o. (SŽC), interchanges should take place at the future Jihlava-Pávov terminal near the regional town of Jihlava. The case study will address the surrounding railway network towards Okříšky, Slavonice, Horní Cerekev, Humpolec, Hlinsko v Čechách, Třebíč and Znojmo with overlap to other neighbouring regions. For the time being, extensive reconstruction plans for the surrounding railway network are not anticipated, so an important part of the paper is also a proposal on how to improve the new connections without serious interventions in the railway infrastructure, as well as the use of alternative propulsion methods. The paper is concluded by pointing out the various problems that the integration of the high-speed transport system into the current transport (regional) concept will face with the aim of increasing the inclusiveness of new high-speed rail transport and reducing the disparity for residents who are not in the relevant vicinity of high-speed line terminals.