Research on the Relationship between Transport Infrastructure and Performance in Rail and Road Freight Transport—A Case Study of Japan and Selected European Countries

Abstract

Transport is key for our economy and society, as good transport infrastructure helps to improve the mobility of citizens and the flow of goods. The European Union intends to maintain support for the development of transport infrastructure in the individual Member States. The aim of this study was to use correlation analysis to compare selected parameters of the road and railway infrastructure of Japan and selected EU countries. The significance of the correlations between various parameters characterizing the transport infrastructure of Japan and selected EU countries was tested. Correlation analysis is not typical in transport-oriented research. Several studies have employed such analysis; however, the majority of them have focused on passenger transport and correlations concerning the behavior of the customers of this mode of transport. The aim of this study was to answer the following research question: is there any correlation between transport performance and infrastructure or investment in infrastructure in relation to the mentioned countries, and, if so, is there a connection between the selected countries where this correlation occurs? Greater investment can also be expected in the construction of high-speed railways, given the decisions of some EU Member States not to resume national air transport where there is good railway infrastructure, even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The comparison of the risks and forwarding company performance compared to average performance in selected EU markets

“…The introduction of a 24-hour contact line would be appropriate in a workplace which has some most language-skilled employees, despite the higher staff costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of extended and complex value chains to production disruptions, particularly in the East Asia Pacific region [4,8]. As a reaction, many of these supply chains may shorten or diversify through a reliance on alternative partners or intensified efforts to bring home strategic value chains [26].…”

Railroad infrastructure investment and economic performance in Portugal: An industry-specific analysis

“…Railroad infrastructure investments have also been shown to increase employment through both the direct and indirect channels. During project construction, these investments directly generate employment in several fields such as materials, construction, and engineering (Gnap et al, 2021;Sobieralski, 2021;Wu et al, 2021). Indirect employment effects stem largely from the connectivity benefits of an expanded rail network.…”

The Planning Process of Transport Tasks for Autonomous Vans—Case Study

“…Huge development took place in the transport sector, covering all modes of transport: air sea, rail, and road [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In road transport, this development included not only vehicles [8][9][10] but also the development of road infrastructure [11][12][13][14] and progress in the field of fuels and energy [15][16][17][18]. Among the research on fuels, the large share of gaseous fuels, such as LPG [19,20], natural gas [21], CNG [22], LNG [23,24] hydrogen feed systems [25], PEM fuel cells [26], and others [27][28][29], should be emphasized.…”