Tracks to Eindhoven : the opportunities for enhancing the international rail connections to the Eindhoven region. The international connections to the Eindhoven region by public transport are bad. Though the city lies in the border area, there are no through international services, and the travel times are high compared to those for car and plane. As a result, the demand for the international public transport services is small. The study presents some alternatives that improve the rail connections to Eindhoven. They include through fast trains to Germany via Venlo and the planned high-speed service between Breda and Belgium that should preferably be extended to Eindhoven. The alternatives are evaluated regarding to level of service, travel demand and financial aspects. The simplest alternatives, requiring no or few extra investments in rail infrastructure, show already a strong enhanced level of service and a large increase in travel demand. The costs are largely covered by the revenues. The more far-reaching alternatives, including high investments in infrastructure enabling faster train services, have a rather small added value to the simple alternatives in terms of quality and demand. Moreover, the costs exceed the revenues by far. Generally, it is concluded, that the services can be enhanced substantially with small effort and a rather balanced budget, inducing a large increase in demand. (Author/publisher)
Abstract