High-speed rail as a tool for regional development? Motivations, decision-making and spatial effects in Europe

Despite concerns about the limited net economic benefits of high-speed rail (HSR) projects linking core and peripheral regions, HSR continues to feature prominently on European policy agendas as a tool to address spatial socioeconomic disparities. Building on the discussion around the Lelylijn, a proposed rail link between northern Netherlands and the Randstad, the country’s main metropolitan core, this paper examines rationales and decision-making processes behind realized HSR projects across Europe and how these align with evidence on their observed spatial impacts. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines a systematic literature review with expert interviews across selected European cases, the analysis shows that while traditional appraisal frameworks emphasize aggregate economic returns and direct user benefits, policy rationales increasingly reflect equity-oriented objectives, such as reducing regional disparities and promoting sustainable development. Current appraisal practices are perceived to be limited in their ability to capture these broader and more uncertain effects, particularly redistributive shifts in economic activity that extend beyond linear projections of direct user benefits. The findings point towards a growing desire to situate HSR debates and appraisal within wider spatial planning considerations, such as climate adaptation, demographic change, housing, and social cohesion, rather than focusing narrowly on direct economic returns.