From rail timetables to regional and urban indicators on rail passenger services

During the 2014-2020 programming period, Cohesion Policy allocates almost 19 billion EUR to rail investments. Most of these investments are taking place in less developed regions. Comparable indicators on rail infrastructure and its use are important assets to accompany the conception and implementation of this policy.

This new working paper presents a substantial step forward in analysing rail services in Europe. For the first time, it provides comprehensive and comparable information on the speed and frequency of passenger services, covering all of the EU and Switzerland. Thanks to big efforts in data collection and transformation, we can now show the dramatic differences in rail services within Europe, and assess passenger rail accessibility between European cities.