Global railway geographies in a digitised, post-pandemic, climate emergency

Prof. Simon Blainey, Prof. John Preston

Session Abstract

Railway systems around the world are facing an almost unprecedented series of challenges as they deal with the consequences of substantial changes in travel behaviour (and hence demand and revenue) following the Covid-19 pandemic. These changes have placed further stresses on systems which were already having to cope with i) more frequent occurrences of damage to infrastructure and disruption to operations from extreme weather events and ii) the impacts of an increasingly digitised economy and society, in terms of changes to railway technology, changes to passenger expectations, and changing competition from other transport options and from virtual mobility. Alongside these challenges, there is also an implicit expectation in transport policy in many contexts that railways will play a key role in reducing transport emissions to address the climate emergency. The nature of both these challenges and the railway industry’s response to them varies markedly over space and between different places. This session will therefore explore and compare how railways are both affected by and responding to these challenges in different geographic contexts and at different spatial scales. We would welcome papers which consider any type of railway including high speed rail, metros and light railways, and covering passenger and/or freight traffic. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are welcome, as are papers from any disciplinary background, as long as there is a focus on the geographic aspects of railway systems.