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Article: When air and rail can be good for each other: High-speed rail and air transport have traditionally been seen as competitors over certain distances, but areas of complementarity are increasingly being adopted for mutual advantage. (High Speed).
- Article from:
- International Railway Journal
- Article date:
- March 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE old expression "horses for courses" is particularly apposite in the world of transport. Virtually no one, for example, would travel by rail, even high-speed rail, from Paris to Hong Kong. Equally, virtually no-one would want to travel by commercial airline the 190km between Bristol and London.
On the other hand, there are circumstances in which rail/air coordination can turn competition into complementarity. In France, for example, Air France now hires capacity on some Thalys high-speed trains between Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and Brussels, and has cancelled a number of daily flights between Paris and Brussels as a consequence in order to free up some ...