FACULTY OF CIVIL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING Master Degree in Transport System Engineering Thesis High Speed Railway Project Development and Regional Accessibility Improvement: The First Experience in India Supervisor: Candidate: Prof. Eng. Antonio Musso Amal Kuzhiparambil Purushothaman Co-Supervisor: N° 1722321 Dr. Eng. Cristiana Piccioni Academic Year 2018/2019 2 Table of contents Summary 1. Introduction 1.1 Study purpose 1.2 Research background 1.3 Research methodology 1.4 Key issues 2. The Reference framework 2.1 Definition of high-speed rail 2.2 HSR benefits 2.3 HS Rail around the world 2.3.1 Japan 2.3.2 Italy 2.3.3 France 2.3.4 Germany 2.3.5 Spain 2.3.6 China 3. The accessibility concept 3.1 Definition of accessibility 3.2 Accessibility indicators 3.3 A basic benchmarking exercise 4. Accessibility and HSR projects: an insight into international experiences 4.1 The Madrid-Barcelona HSR case study, Spain 4.2 The China HSR case study 4.3 The Seoul HSR case study, Korea 4.4 Brisbane - Melbourne proposed HSR, Australia 5. Building an accessibility indicators framework 5.1 Identification of Accessibility indicators 5.2 A selection of accessibility indicators 5.2.1 Weighted average travel times (Location indicator) 5.2.2 Economic potential 3 5.2.3 Daily accessibility indicator 5.2.4 Economic accessibility 6. Pilot study: the Mumbai – Ahmedabad HSR project 6.1 HSR project background 6.1.1 Necessity of HSR System in India 6.2 Major cities affected by the project 6.2.1 Mumbai 6.2.2 Surat 6.2.3 Vadodara 6.2.4 Ahmedabad 6.3 HSR Project overview 6.3.1 Basic characteristics 6.3.2 Stations 6.3.3 Train operation plans 6.4 Accessibility assessment 6.4.1 Calculation and evaluation of indicators 6.4.2 Weighted average travel times (location indicator) 6.4.3 Economic potential 6.4.4 Daily accessibility indicator 6.4.5 Economic indicator 7. Lessons learned from a comparative analysis 7.1 Summary of pilot study 7.2 Comparative analysis with Madrid-Barcelona HSR ex-ante/ex-post evidences 7.3 Recommendations for adopting the selected indicators 8. Conclusions and Recommendations 8.1 Future research developments List of Acronyms List of Figures List of Tables References 4 Summary High-Speed Rail (HSR) is emerging all over the world as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transport. After five decades of International experience developing nations like India is investing in HSR infrastructure. Mumbai- Ahmedabad rail corridor is the first experience in India. Benefits of such a huge investment are an issue of concern. On this background, the thesis aims at understanding the project development and regional accessibility improvement. This thesis tries to provide a further contribution to the study of global HSR networks. On this light, the thesis also includes a critical review of the Mumbai- Ahmedabad HSR project in terms of functional and performance features. Further, this aims to investigate on the regional accessibility enhancement achieved by the new infrastructure. In order to evaluate the accessibility improvement, this study put forward a set of specific indicators derived from a benchmarking exercise. By analyzing from international experiences, how well different types of accessibility indicators are able to capture the accessibility changes. A set of accessibility indicators are introduced. Using these indicators, relative changes accessibility of the study area are presented and analyzed. The results provide an understanding of differential effects on regional accessibility based on the geographical location and size of urban areas along the HSR corridor under study. 5 Acknowledgment This project would not have been possible without the help of my advisers, so many thanks to Prof. Eng. Antonio Musso and Dr. Eng. Cristiana Piccioni for the effort and the time you gave to me. I thank my family for their prayers and blessings for giving me the force during the whole Master Degree, without you this would have never happened. I thank my friends for their effort and help in completing my thesis. Thanks to my University Sapienza University of Rome, and for each prof. who taught me, Stefano Ricci, Antonio Musso, Guido Gentile, Mattia Giovanni Crespi, Paolo De Girolamo, Paola Di Mascio, Gaetano Fusco, Massimo Guarascio, Gabriele Malavasi, Luca Persia, and Liana Ricci. I was one of the lucky students who had the honour of being taught under such professors. 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Study purpose Developing nations like India is taking its first step on High-Speed Rail (HSR) investment after five decades of international experience. This paper is intended to review Mumbai- Ahmedabad HSR project development and assess the regional accessibility improvements. An observation on the specific project details provides a better idea about the quality of the system as a transport facility among the present international standard of HSR networks. In addition, the thesis details the overview of HSR networks and the socio-economic background of the region. In order to evaluate the accessibility improvement, the project aims at developing a set of accessibility indicators and methodology from identified best practices around the world. Finally, the identified set of indicators are introduced in Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR and evaluated. 1.2 Research background The quest for speed and growing impact of global warming to the transportation industry are primary reasons behind the new HSR initiatives all over the world. HSR project demands large scale investments so, the functional quality and ability to perform as a transport system becomes a key concern. Domestic transportations are an important factor for economic development. Although India has a large and diverse transport network with its own challenges, they can overcome by introducing energy-efficient technologies and improved performance. India is the seventh largest nation with more than a billion populations, has a large potential to invest in transport infrastructure The concept of accessibility is used in many scientific research fields such as transport planning, urban regional planning, feasibility studies, etc. Accessibility studies play a key 7 role in policy making and give an important tool for understanding the economic impacts. In addition, accessibility analysis studies address the link between the spatial structure of the region and travel pattern of its residents. Therefore, it is very important to identify a set of accessibility indicator that is closely related to the purpose of research. 1.3 Research methodology The goal of the research is to evaluate the Mumbai- Ahmedabad HSR project details and assess the regional accessibility improvement achieved. The study included a global HSR framework, literature review on accessibility and accessibility indicator, insights to international experience, case study background and project review, selection of indicators and its calculation under case study data and evaluation of findings obtained. Various research techniques were applied in each stage of methodology. Firstly, setting a reference framework for the study. Global statuses of HSR in some nation are described, followed by the introduction of basic HSR details. The study chose Japan, considering it as the pioneer in HSR transport. Four countries from Europe such as Italy, France, Germany and Spain as a consolidated HSR system. Considering a new and innovative system, Chinese HSR is also included in the study. In a further literature review, the accessibility concept is introduced. Definition of accessibility, accessibility indicators and supporting literature have included. Because the focus of the thesis is to a find a set of indicators to initiate the case study, evidence from international experiences are discussed in building an accessibility indicator framework, four indicators are selected from the identified studies. The indicators selected are weighted average travel time (location indicator), economic potential, daily accessibility indicator, and economic accessibility. These indicators of technical and functional characteristics are discussed. In the background to the case study, the regional socio-economic and transport scenarios are discussed. The current transport situation of the project affected cities precedes the HSR project overview. Apart from the basic HSR characteristics, the thesis focus on HSR stations and train operation plans to enlighten the accessibility analysis. Next, the selected indicators are calculated using the collected case study data’s. A comparative analysis with component modes and identified international experience build further understanding of regional accessibility improvements. 8 In summary, the general outline of the research is covered as per the above- mentioned approach. The thesis report devotes to draft the research and finding with explicit details, easily understandable structure, supporting maps and diagrams and necessary references. 1.4 Key issues Changes in transport infrastructure produce a progressive contribution of space by shortening travel time and transport costs. The high-speed rail has the potential to boost links between cities to a condition formerly unimaginable. Its competitiveness as a mode of transport depends on the quality of service, access times to major economic activities and potential to carry a large volume of passengers. As the HSR infrastructure brings a large financial burden with it, its benefit is a major issue of concern. The initial questions emerged alone with the objective of the thesis