V4 Transport Markets and Infrastructure Constraints

The passenger and freight transport markets of the V4 countries are notably different from Western European or U.S. markets. On the freight market, railways have a higher market share than in Western Europe and lower than in the U.S, Ukraine or Russia. On the passenger market, railways have higher market share than in the U.S. or in Western Europe and lower than Eastern Europe.

Many people think that motorization will follow the same route as in Western Europe and road transport will take over rail transport in both freight and passenger markets. However, taking a look at the map above shows that you need a different strategy in these countries as there are fundamental differences that will prevail for decades, or maybe forever.

You can have a look at our visualization created by Many Eyes and look behind the maps to see the data (Java Applet may take some time to start on your computer)


The bottom line is that Central Europe has much higher railway density than Western Europe (and much lower than Eastern Europe). This corresponds with greater physical distance among cities and lower population density. As the railways have a comparative, and sometimes absolute advantage over road transport, the bet is that you will get a mixture of the West- and East-European logistics plus a bit of the U.S. system. If your good or passenger flow has to be managed between East and West, you need to rely on railways, as the railway density goes up if you go the East and the road density goes down. If your streams are North-South you may use the Danube or probably you can rely on roads and railways, too.

More on transport.