Rail tends to make rapid gains in market share as soon as new, dedicated high-speed rail lines are opened, Johannes Ludewig, executive director of the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies, says.
He predicts significant gains for rail’s market share in Italy after the opening of two new high-speed sections in the last two years completed the Rome to Milan high-speed line, cutting journey times by an hour to two hours 45 minutes.
Rail’s main competitive advantage is that, while trains never match aircraft for speed, shorter check-in times and railway stations’ central locations give rail time and convenience advantages for short-haul journeys. In Europe, air’s market share in long-distance travel has been falling almost continually since the continent’s first dedicated high-speed rail line linked Paris to Lyons in 1981.
For more: FT.com / Reports - Business class: Rail industry on track for gains in market share
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