A1 Journal article (refereed)
The emissions reduction potential of substituting short-haul flights with non-high-speed rail (NHSR) : The case of Finland (2021)
Baumeister, S., & Leung, A. (2021). The emissions reduction potential of substituting short-haul flights with non-high-speed rail (NHSR) : The case of Finland. Case studies on transport policy, 9(1), 40-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.07.001
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Baumeister, Stefan; Leung, Abraham
Journal or series: Case studies on transport policy
ISSN: 2213-624X
eISSN: 2213-6258
Publication year: 2021
Volume: 9
Issue number: 1
Pages range: 40-50
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication country: Netherlands
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.07.001
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/73921
Abstract
Replacing short-haul flights with high-speed rail (HSR) has been widely discussed as one solution to mitigate the climate change impacts of aviation. However, although HSR can provide travel times similar to those provided by short-haul flights, and at lower emission levels, it also requires considerable investments in time and infrastructure to build. Instead, this study considers the feasibility of replacing short-haul flights with existing non-high-speed rail (NHSR). Our study is based in Finland, a country that has an extensive route network of short-haul flights but does not possess any HSR. We compared all 16 city pairs for which short-haul flights are offered with existing NHSR based on the total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2-eq) and real travel times from door-to-door. Two scenarios were developed based on the results, which suggest replacing all short-haul flights with NHSR in Finland. This would result in a 95% emissions reduction. In terms of travel times, NHSR could remain competitive against air travel on distances up to 400 km.
Keywords: passenger traffic; air traffic; rail traffic; emissions; greenhouse gases; climate changes; traffic policy
Free keywords: emissions reduction; climate change; short-haul flights; train; modal shift; travel time
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2021
JUFO rating: 1