Evaluating Middle-Distance Passenger Transportation: A Comparison of the Time Efficiency, Sustainability, and Break-Even Distances Between High-Speed-Rail and Air Travel in Sweden

Debate regarding the use of airplanes or high-speed trains in middle-distance passenger transportation has evolved into a strong field of research. With the aim to mitigate the environmental footprint of air travel, the European Union’s initiatives are focused on redirecting passengers from airplanes to high-speed trains. This shift is hampered by significant variations in train accessibility across Europe. Using Sweden as an example, we tested the break-even distance and evaluated the findings from both a time-efficiency perspective and a sustainability perspective. Airplanes hold the upper hand on high-speed trains in middle-distance passenger transportation from the time perspective. This perspective provides us with a clear answer, but if we consider the sustainability perspective, it may affect the results. The results indicate that the presented proof of concept makes sense and can be easily adapted to any decision-making process regarding the choice of the preferable transportation mode, although the procedure is extremely time consuming. For policymakers, this proof of concept can represent a priceless tool because the resulting figures carry valuable information about (under)developed and (less-)integrated transportation modes in commuting and transportation systems.