Airline and railway disintegration in China: the case of Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub

Abstract In China, the need to integrate the air and rail networks has been identified and dozens of transport hubs that include air and HSR links have been built or are planned. In this research, which is complementary to Chen and Lin, the level and potential for air–rail integration at Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub is examined and analyzed. The results show that despite the excellent infrastructure the actual level of integration is low, while the potential benefits from such integration could be very large. It seems that in China the main barrier for air–rail integration is institutional and stems from the institutional (and cultural) division between air and rail transport and from the importance placed on promoting competition almost at any cost – both of these barriers can be said to be ‘imported’ to China from (especially) the U.S. and Europe. But with the infrastructure for air–rail integration in place, the potential to realize such an integration is far greater. A move away from the uni-modal governance and planning of transport can open the door not only to air–rail integration but to the creation of a truly integrated transport system in China.