Comparative environmental impacts of different modes

Abstract

While modern railway systems in general are considered to have comparatively low environmental impacts, high speed rail systems require special attention to ecological appraisal. Two case studies are presented - the new rail lines of the West German Federal Railways, and the European high speed rail project Paris-Brussels-Cologne/Amsterdam — which show that environmental compatibility can be costly and time-consuming. However, it would seem that the environment would not be a main issue for the proposed Amsterdam-Groningen-Hamburg connection if it primarily used existing rail lines.