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Introduction
The Congress will evaluate the usefulness of High-Seed Rail (HSR) under a quintuple perspective:
-Long-term implications
-Multidisciplinary scientific approach
-Transport relevance
-Territorial development
-Technology development and diffusion
The social cost and usefulness of HSR has been abundantly studied prior to and shortly after the introduction of this new transport mode. This Congress will try to focus on a long-term perspective on its costs and benefits and on a technology development and diffusion perspective.
HSR has already been in operation for just over half a century in Japan and for 35 years in France. Thus, it is possible to debate its pros and cons considering an important time span.
This International Congress will combine transport, infrastructure and rolling material optimization, urban and territorial development, sustainability and energy savings, and security points of view. All papers will be published in the Proceedings and selected papers will be published in Journal Special Issues.
The Congress will take place 4-6 October 2017 at the University of Castilla La Mancha at the city of Ciudad Real, the first stop of the Madrid- Seville HSR line, the first Spanish one.
HSR can facilitate changes for the future by
1. Travelling:
Changing modal split and inducing demand, within a context where the introduction of a new transportation mode may/should mean reorganization of the other transportation modes.
2. Connecting Territories/Economies:
Providing new interrelation opportunities. HSR does not provide new relations, but makes them posible. They may happen or not after some time.
3. Impacting places crossed by the infrastructure:
Increased barriers and land occupation by tracks and improved interest of activities in being close to the few stations.
4.Energy and pollution reduction:
Balance for producing the new infrastructure, its use and maintenance in comparison to what would have happened in its absence.
5.Technology development and return:
Capability of mastering technology and of providing it to other societies and regions, and its expected economic and social return.
6.Overall social profitability:
All this issues combined can be socially and economically profitable, or profitability would have been greater through investments in other assets.