The station location and sustainability of high-speed railway systems

The sustainability of high-speed railways (HSRs) depends on many factors, and one of them is the location of stations. This is important in terms of the performance, competition and interconnectivity of HSRs and for the future of cities where HSR stations are located. The ten selected HSRs were analysed using PIM-DEAsoft-V3.0 and IBM SPSS software. The secondary data methodology that has been used in this research was supported by information on some empirical evidence. Most of the data were gathered from online sources, reported research on HSRs in the selected countries and the International Union of Railway's website, as well as considering railway statistics and European and institutional publications. The main findings show that the location of HSR stations has influence on the efficiency and productivity of the HSRs and the local governments. The HSR services that are oriented on services with a median distance between 200 and 250 km have higher productivity and efficiency scores than short- or long-distance services. The expected outcome of this research may contribute to the identification of the relationship between the choice of location of HSR stations and the performance of HSRs, in addition to highlighting the factors that influence the sustainability of HSRs.