Source: International Union of Railways

Travel Times before and after the Introduction of a High Speed Rail Service (hours)

High speed rail has been a technology actively contributing to regional space / time convergence. The setting of high speed rail systems has considerably improved travel time between several major metropolitan areas, on average a 50% reduction. In many cases (such as Paris / Lyon on the Paris / Marseille axis) the drop in travel time has placed new areas within commuting range, implying that some HSR corridors an become commuter rail lines. The high speed train system has also the advantage of servicing central areas (for most stations) with an overall higher level of accessibility to the city. By including travel time to stations commonly well serviced by public transit, the high speed train system can compete effectively with short and medium distance air transport. In recent years, several new systems were brought online in Asia, including in South Korea (2004), Taiwan (2007) and China (2009). In the case of China the service time improvements were particularly impressive since the existing rail passenger network is slow and congested.