Driving the Extra Mile: Comprehensive Analysis of Road and Rail Transportation Distances in Europe

This paper provides two empirical analyses of road and rrail transportation distantances in Europe. The first analysis examines the proximity to major roads and rail stations, addressing connectivity within regions. The proximity of countries to both networks ranges from 3 to 12 kilometers, with an average of 8 kilometers, and shows a strong correlation between the two. We formulate and test hypotheses demonstrating that population density and historical factors largely explain these connectivity differences. For instance, locations in Eastern European countries are farther from major roads but closer to rail stations than those in other European countries. However, there are exceptions, and we then discuss implications for transportation policies by comparing the performance of European countries against a regression-based accessibility prediction. The second analysis examines circuity, the ratio between transportation and great-circle distance, to address connectivity between regions. Circuity between countries ranges from 1.15 to 1.76 (median 1.25) for road transportation and 1.13 to 2.07 (median 1.42) for rail transportation. Hypotheses are formulated and tested to describe the regional and mode-specific variations. For instance, peripheral countries like Italy and Greece have higher circuity than other countries, and circuity of road and rail networks is positively correlated. While circuity decreases for longer road distances, no such relationship is found for rail. However, circuity reliability improves with distance in both networks, with average estimation errors falling below 5% for distances exceeding 2,500 kilometers. The combined insights from both analyses offer a comprehensive overview of Europe’s road and rail transportation infrastructure.