Introduction
The UIC Alliance of Universities was established in 2015 under the authority of the UIC (International Union of Railways) for the development of High-Speed Rail (HSR). The Alliance is a global academic network including universities, institutes of technology, polytechnics, engineering, architecture and business schools that have proven substantial involvement in the development of HSR. The objective of the Alliance is to promote and implement research programmes on the development of HSR; to improve education in HSR; to exchange and disseminate know-how between Universities and UIC members; to develop outstanding talents with HSR expertise.
Within these activities, Prof. Francesca Pagliara, member of the Alliance and Professor of transport engineering at the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering of the Polytechnic and Basic Sciences School of the University of Naples Federico II, is glad to launch the call for papers for the 5th International Symposium on High-Speed Rail Socioeconomic Impacts.
Following the success of the last four editions, UIC has decided to support this initiative annually to be organised by the University of Naples Federico II. The aim of this Symposium is to explore recent research on the analysis and quantification of the effects, both on economy and on society, of investments in HSR systems.
Papers focusing on the impacts on productivity; on the land use system, such as activity and residential location choice; on the tourism industry; on the property market as well as on pricing policies; on project evaluation; on competition and integration with other transport modes; on equity and inclusion, etc. are welcome. Papers will be accepted for presentation and discussion at the Symposium, presenting either a theoretical or an empirical perspective approach.
Submission
Abstracts of 500 words should be sent to Prof. Francesca Pagliara, email: fpagliar at unina.it by 15 May 2025, writing in the subject “IS-HSR”.
Proceedings of the Symposium will be published in the book series “Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics” (indexed in Scopus).
Deadlines
Deadline for abstracts submission: 15 May 2025
Deadline for acceptance of abstracts: 30 May 2025
Deadline for full paper submission: 15 November 2025
Best Paper Award
Two best paper awards will be assigned during the Symposium closing remarks session on 10 September. The first one of 500 USD will be sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute. The second one of 200 Euros will be sponsored by the Italian Society of Transport Economics and Logistics. To participate in the award competition ONLY extended abstracts of 1,000 words will be taken into consideration, reporting a detailed description of the methodology and the results.
Registration
Registration is free of charge. You can register with your email address at the link below
A Microsoft Teams link will be sent to you by 5 September 2025 to participate in the Symposium event.
Programme
9th September 2025
13:00 -14:15 CET | Symposium opening remarks
Moderator Prof. Francesca Pagliara (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Prof. Francesco Pirozzi (Head of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Mr Bertrand Minary (UIC Passenger Director and Coordinator of Middle East and Latin American Regions)
Mr Michele Gesualdi (UIC HSR Advisor)
Mr Rogier Vergouwen (Chairman High-Speed Rail Netherlands Foundation, The Netherlands)
Mrs Alice Rodriguez (Deputy Director of External Affairs at the California High-Speed Rail Authority, USA)
14:15-14:45 CET | Keynote
Mr Pierpaolo Settembri Deputy Head of Cabinet Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Sustainable Transport and Tourism, European Commission – The EU Masterplan on High-Speed Rail
14:45-15:00 CET | Break
15:00-16:40 CET | Session 1 – HSR and Competition 1
Chairman Prof. Jandová M. (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)
15:00-15:20 | Transforming High-Speed Rail through Public-Private Partnerships: Lessons from the Lisbon-Porto line - González-Medrano M. and Rotellar-García J. M. (University Francisco de Vitoria, Spain)
15:20-15:40 | Can High-Speed Rail have wider economic impacts? Evidence from the UK - Preston J. (University of Southampton, UK)
15:40-16:00 | Operator Interactions and Ticket Availability Dynamics in High-Speed Rail Market - Shtele E., Koshmak V. and Maggi, E. (University of Insubria, Italy)
16:00-16:20 | The value of competition in HSR markets: an ex post assessment of the “pure competition” effect in the Italian case study - Henke I., Cartenì A. and Cascetta E. (Universitas Mercatorum, Italy; University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”)
16:20-16:40 | EU High-Speed Rail evolution: competitive models and regulatory Issues - Jandová M. (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)
16:40-16:50 CET | Break
16:50-18:10 CET | Session 2 – HSR and Competition 2
Chairman Mr Scarci S. (EY Advisory SpA, Italy)
16:50-17:10 | Estimating travel time savings and modal shift from airlines: a case study of the proposed Kuala Lumpur to Singapore high-speed rail – Ashmore D. and Fung C. (University of Southampton, UK)
17:10-17:30 | Advance ticket sales in Spain’s High-Speed Rail market: effects of liberalisation - Romero C., Gomez J., Brenna C. and Zamorano C. (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain; Bocconi University, Italy; Technische Universität Berlin, Germany)
17:30-17:50 | High-Speed Railway services social and economic benefits: a comparison between the Italian “laboratory” and the raising competition in Spanish and French railway markets - Tartaglia M. and Razzano E. (FS Research Centre, Italy; Transport Regulation Authority, Italy)
17:50-18:10 | High Speed transport systems comparison and potential socioeconomic impacts of Maglev and Hyperloop - D. Li, Pagliara F., Preston J. and Scarci S. (Beijing Jiaotong University, China; University of Naples Federico II, Italy; University of Southampton, UK; EY Advisory SpA, Italy)
10th September 2025
09:00-10:40 CET | Session 3 – HSR and Land-use Impacts 1
Chairman Prof. Pagliara F. (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
09:00-09:20 | Does High-Speed Rail intensify urban heat? Evidence from satellite analysis in selected Japanese station cities – I. H., Tanyag (University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines)
09:20-09:40 | Synergistic effects of high-speed rail and megaregional development on firm births in China – L. Wang, B. Shi and C. Miao (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; The University of Manchester, UK; Henan University, China)
09:40-10:00 | Decomposing the Concept of 15-minute City in High-Speed Rail Station Areas: An Empirical Study of Shanghai - X. Wang, H. Pan, Bashir T. and Pagliara F. (Tongji University, China; University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
10:00-10:20 | Rapid railroad connection in the structure of suburban transportation organization and its impact on the socioeconomic development of the region – Vanin, E. A. (Moscow Tver suburban passenger company, Russia)
10:20-10:40 | Beyond the station: the impact of first and last mile on perceived accessibility in high-speed rail travel - Montenegro E., Tartaglia M., Farsi M. (University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy; FS Research Centre, Italy)
10:40-10:50 CET | Break
10:50-12:10 CET | Session 4 – HSR and Land-use Impacts 2
Chairman Mr Shrivastva, C. (CHRIST, Deemed to be University, India)
10:50-11:10 | Does High-Speed Rail Increase White-Collar Income at the City Level? A Case Study of Reggio Emilia, Italy - Albano, G. and Pagliara F. (University of Insubria, Italy; University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
11:10-11:30 | Evaluating the Socioeconomic Impact of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor: A Case Study Through the Lens of Officials and NGO - Shrivastva C. and Begum S. (Jain, Deemed-to-be University, India)
11:30-11:50 | Wider economic effects of high-speed rail in the Czech Republic - Balahura M. and Sobotka M. (Správa železnic, s. o., Czech Republic)
11:50-12:10 | High-Speed Rail as a catalyst for high-quality urban development: lessons from case studies - Cerullo M., Chinzari C., Pasqua E., Pignatone G., Radicioni M., Ravà S. and Tartaglia M. (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italy; FS Research Centre, Italy)
12:10-13:30 CET | Session 5 – HSR and Land-use Impacts 3
Chairman Prof. Tartaglia M. (FS Research Centre, Italy, University of Florence, Italy)
12:10-12:30 | Potential for Development of Urban Agglomerations at China-Russia Border under HSR Impact - Kudryavtsev F. S., C. Xu, Makhrova A. G., H. Zhu and Gurgenishvili K. D. (Moscow Institute of Architecture, Russia; Southeast University, China; Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia; Harbin Institute of Technology, China)
12:30-12:50 | Unpacking the Impact of High-Speed Rail on the Short-Term Rental Market: A Machine Learning Approach Using Airbnb Data in Italy - Fulponi J. I., Tartaglia M. and Nourbakhsh S. (Freelance, Italy; FS Research Centre, Italy)
12:50-13:10 | High Speed Rail and Territorial Cohesion along the design process. From requirements to assessment framework and digital tools - Tartaglia M., Fiduccia A., Martini S., Ravagnan C., Nardoni S., Antonias N. and Paglino R. (FS Research Centre, Italy; Italferr, Italy; Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italy)
13:10-13:30 | The regional economic impact of the High-Speed Rail on the Italian economy through a combined national and multiregional SUT based model - Tartaglia M., Lopresti I., Piccini L. and Paniccià R. (FS Research Centre, Italy; IRPET, Italy)
13:30-14:00 CET | 1st Best Paper Award assignment sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute
Moderator Prof. Francesca Pagliara (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Mr. KE Seetha Ram (Senior Consulting Specialist, Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan)
Prof. Yoshitsugu Hayashi (Chubu University, Japan)
14:00-15:00 CET | Break
15:00-16:50 CET | Session 6 – HSR and Investment 1
Chairman Prof. Mariotti I. (Polytechnic of Milan, Italy)
15:00-15:20 | Ex-ante evaluation of high-speed projects: a structured bibliometric review - Mariotti I., Prota F. and Rossi F. (Polytechnic of Milan, Italy; University of Bari, Italy)
15:20-15:40 | Public Engagement in High-Speed Rail Projects: A Bibliometric Analysis (2001–2025) - Bashir T., X. Wang and Pagliara F. (University of Naples Federico II, Italy; Tonji University, China)
15:40-16:00 | Cost benefit analysis of virtual coupling technology in high-speed railway - Y. Zhao, D. Li, X. Zhao and T. Li (Beijing Jiaotong University, China)
16:00-16:20 | Statistical approach about the impact of High Speed Railways on conventional railways in some countries - Ozturk, H. N. and Sahin I. (Emirler Railway Systems Ltd, Turkiye; Yıldız Technical University, Turkiye)
16:20-16:50 | Technical-Economic Analysis of Predictive Maintenance in the Italian High-Speed Rail Network - Di Ruocco I. (University of Trieste, Italy)
16:50-17:00 CET | Break
17:00-18:40 CET | Session 7 – HSR and Investment 2
Chairman Prof. Puławska-Obiedowska S. (Cracow University of Technology, Poland)
17:00-17:20 | The Madrid-Levante High Speed Line: 20 years of cost-benefit analysis - Monfort I., Folgueira C., Devesa J., Mesa A., Seseña E., Alarcos A. and Jaro L. (Adif Alta Velocidad, Spain; Ineco, Spain)
17:20-17:40 | High-Speed Rail and passenger happiness: a multidisciplinary literature review and conceptual framework - Ahmad H. and Pagliara F. (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
17:40-18:00 | Overcoming the issues in Cost-Benefit Analysis assessment of High-Speed lines in long-term scenarios - Tartaglia M., Costagli G., Cieri E. and Lopresti I. (FS Research Centre, Italy; Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italy)
18:00-18:20 | How Night Trains Complement High-Speed Rail - Malott P. (P7 Strategies, USA)
18:20-18:40 | Method of selecting a schedule for the implementation of the high-speed rail investment, taking into account socio-economic costs - Puławska-Obiedowska S. (Cracow University of Technology, Poland)
18:40-19:00 CET | 2nd Best Paper Award assignment sponsored by the Italian Society of Transport Economics and Logistics
Prof. Claudio Ferrari (President of the Italian Society of Transport Economics and Logistics, University of Genoa, Italy)
Symposium closing remarks
Mrs Dorien Rookmaker - Former Member of the European Parliament
Prof. Francesca Pagliara (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Organising Committee
Prof. Francesca Pagliara – Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Mr Michele Gesualdi - UIC
Mrs Helen Slaney - UIC
Scientific Committee for the Best Paper Awards assignment sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the Italian Society of Transport Economics and Logistics
Dr Oliviero Baccelli - Bocconi University, Italy
Prof. Yoshitsugu Hayashi - Chubu University, Japan
Prof. Elena Maggi - University of Insubria, Italy
Prof. Francesca Pagliara - University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Mr. KE Seetha Ram - Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan