Better timetables could greatly shorten train travel times

A research team led by ETH Zurich professor Francesco Corman has found that European train travel could be significantly shortened by improving train timetables. Currently, about 25% of train travel time is spent on transfers and layovers due to poorly coordinated timetables, according to the study's first author, Matthias Benjamin Andrews García.

Using train services between over 31,000 stations as a basis for their analysis, the researchers developed a metric for travel time efficiency that compares actual travel time to a scenario where transfers are optimally coordinated. In this comparison, travel times could be reduced by a quarter without faster trains, provided the timetable is reorganized and infrastructure capacity is sufficient.

Countries with integrated timetables, such as Switzerland and Germany, perform particularly well. However, peripheral regions with infrequent services and poorly coordinated transfers have more room for improvement. The study challenges the notion that high-speed infrastructure is the only way to make rail travel more attractive, suggesting that improved timetables could yield time savings comparable to expensive infrastructure projects.

The researchers believe that both expanded infrastructure and better timetable synchronization are needed in the long term, often requiring international coordination. Combining infrastructure expansion projects planned through 2050 with better synchronization of European railway services could reduce travel times on long-distance routes by about one-third.