Cross Border Integration Through High-Speed Rail: Hong Kong-Eu Comparative Study

Abstract

The role of transport in the process of economic development and integration remains an area of controversy in both the economics literature and policy-making. The theoretical literature following the work on the new economic geography (Fujita et al, 1999) implies that there is no a priori certainty in whether improved accessibility will lead to convergence or divergence in economic performance. Despite this policy makers have emphasised the importance of investment in transport infrastructure as an instrument of both economic growth and cohesion. Pre-eminent in this thinking has been the role of high-speed rail which has been seen as enabling a significant shift in transport supply equivalent to the introduction of a completely new mode of transport. This belief has been to the fore in both European transport policy and in the rapid development of high-speed rail in China. As originally conceived high-speed rail (HSR) was seen as a means of improving accessibility between core cities in the distance range 400-600km (Vickerman, 2012). In Europe evidence from Spain, France and the UK has shown that it may also have a role in enhancing intra-regional integration in the distance range up to 200km (Garmendia et al, 2012). A similar situation can be identified in China where HSR is seen as one of the elements in the long-term development of the Pearl River Delta area, enhancing the integration of Hong Kong with Guangdong. This paper aims to embed the development of HSR in the wider process of integration which has been a major objective of policy in Europe and is clearly seen as an objective of policy between the Hong Kong SAR and the neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Two case studies will be used to illustrate the issues: the link between London and Paris and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel; and the development of a high-speed link between Kowloon and Guangzhou via Shenzhen. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link provides both a complete high-speed route between London and Paris and Brussels and a regional high-speed service between London and a range of towns in Kent. The line is part of the North-European HSR network linking Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Amsterdam and London. In France the Nord-Pas de Calais region has introduced regional services using the high-speed line (TER-GV) to provide better integration of the coastal towns with the regional centre of Lille. There is a historic rail link between Kowloon and Guangzhou. Although it is relatively slow in the Hong Kong SAR, as services compete for space with local commuter trains, upgrading in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen part transformed it into one that allows trains to run at 200km/hr. Nevertheless, the rail link did not realize its full potential of integrating the Hong Kong SAR and the rest of the Pearl River Delta region. Meanwhile, the expressway expansion was taking placing rapidly since the 1990s (Loo, 1999). The Chinese plan for a national network of HSR included a line from Guangzhou to Kowloon (via Dongguan and Shenzhen) which will reduce travel time to less than one hour. This will also enable HSR services from Hong Kong to major cities in Mainland China. The proposed HSR services will reduce the Beijing-Hong Kong time from 24 to 10 hours. Realisation of the Guangzhou-Kowloon line is expected to be vital to the further economic integration between Hong Kong and Guangdong (and the Mainland as a whole). In both cases there are major centres of population likely to benefit from high-speed city to city communication and intermediate areas which may benefit from greater integration into the higher level centres, but may also find themselves increasingly excluded by the new high level links. Garmendia et al (2012) have shown how dedicated shorter distance HSR services can create completely new travel opportunities with major impacts on regional labour markets and on residence-workplace location and choice. The scope for this, and its likely impacts, both positive and native will be examined in these cases. Both cases also show the possible consequences of using improved transport as a means of removing the barriers which international borders imply.