Distance of Inter-city Rail
- 50–100 km
The distance of an inter-city rail journey is usually at least 50–100 km (31–62 mi), although in many large metropolitan areas commuter and regional services cover equal or longer distances.
- 100–500 km
A distance of 100–500 km (62–311 mi) is a common journey distance for inter-city rail in many countries. In many cases, railway travel is most competitive at about 2–3 hours journey time. Inter-city rail can often compete with highways and short-haul air travel for journeys of this distance.
- 500–1,000 km
In journeys of 500–1,000 km (311–621 mi), the role of inter-city rail is often replaced by faster air travel. Development of high-speed rail in some countries increases the share of railway for such longer-distance journeys. The Paris-Marseille TGV (750 km/466 mi, or 3 hours) and Tokyo-Aomori Shinkansen (675 km/419 mi, or 3 hours 20 minutes) are examples of this type of journey. In conventional non high-speed rail, overnight trains are common for this distance.
- 1,000 km or more
In some countries with a dense rail network, large territory, or less air and car transport, such as China, India, and Russia, overnight long-distance train services are provided and used practically.
In many other countries, such long-distance rail journey has been replaced by air travel except for tourism or hobbyist purposes, luxury train journeys, or significant cost benefit. Discount Eurail Pass in Europe, Amtrak in the United States, and Indian Pacific in Australia are examples.
Faster high-speed rail of 350 km (217 mi), such as the proposed Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway in China (1,300 km/808 mi, or 5 hours) and Tokyo-Sapporo Hokkaido Shinkansen in Japan (1,000 km/621 mi, or 4 hours), may play a significant role in long-distance travel in the future.
Read more about this topic: Inter-city Rail, Speed
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