Changing network accessibility and connectivity from high-speed rail development in metropolitan China

Massive development of China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network has resulted in unprecedented improvement in spatial accessibility. This paper uses the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one of the most populous and developed mega-regions in China, as a case study to examine the spatial impacts of HSR network development. It uses official train timetables to employ a weighted measurement including rail travel time and train service frequency, to assess the changing network accessibility and connectivity at multi-scale between April 2007 (pre-HSR) and October 2016 (16 HSR lines). The study finds that the introduction of the HSR network has enhanced, rather than comprehensively restructured already-existing uneven patterns of accessibility and connectivity. Developed cities benefited more in connectivity increases, while the less developed periphery cities experienced greater accessibility gains, which are, in part, the results of the YRD’s persistent economic geographies. The research advances understanding the impacts of HSR development in the megaregions