HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY AND THE EUROPEAN PERIPHERIES - OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The analysis covers the organization of economic activities and how th e supply of transportation systems influences the definition of market s. From a spatial perspective, competition and collusion in a high-spe ed railway (HSR) based network are examined at three levels: (a) the c hain of regions served; (b) the chain of cities (railway stations) ser ved; (c) the (chain of) transportation modes involved. Finally, the th eoretical part of the analysis looks at the strategic importance of a sequential implementation of network links. The empirical part address es three cases of peripheries with distinctly different characteristic s. It shows that the arguments developed in the first part provide a s olid approach to solve the problems leading to different configuration s of the recommended system.