Editing Inter-city rail (section)

== Speed ==
{{Train topics}}
[[File:15 FS E402B 161 Milano Cle 110917.jpg|thumb|An Italian InterCity train at [[Milano Centrale railway station]]]]
The speeds of inter-city rail lines are quite diverse, ranging from {{convert|50|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} in a mountainous area or on undeveloped tracks to {{convert|200|–|350|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} on newly constructed or improved tracks. As a result, Inter-city rail may or may not fall into the category of [[higher-speed rail]] or [[high-speed rail]]. Ideally, the average speed of inter-city rail service would be faster than {{convert|100|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} in order to be competitive with car, bus and other methods of transport.

=== Distance of inter-city rail ===

* '''50–100&nbsp;km'''

The distance of an inter-city rail journey is usually at least {{convert|50|–|100|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}, although in many large metropolitan areas commuter and regional services cover equal or longer distances. Examples of countries with relatively short intercity rail distances with service patterns comparable to regional rail include [[Belgium]], [[Israel]], [[Netherlands|The Netherlands]], and [[Switzerland]].

* '''100–500&nbsp;km'''

A distance of {{convert|100|–|500|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} is a common journey distance for inter-city rail in many countries.  In many cases, railway travel is most competitive at about two to three hours journey time. Inter-city rail can often compete with [[highway]]s and [[Flight length#Shortest commercial flight|short-haul]] air travel for journeys of this distance. Most major intercity railway routes in Europe, such as London to Birmingham, Paris to Lyon, and Lisbon to Porto cover this range of distances.

* '''500–1,000&nbsp;km'''

In journeys of {{convert|500|–|1000|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}, the role of inter-city rail is often replaced by faster [[air travel]].  Development of high-speed rail in some countries increases the share of railway for such longer-distance journeys. The Paris-Marseille [[TGV]] ({{convert|750|km|mi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}} in 3 hours) and [[Tōhoku Shinkansen|Tokyo-Aomori]] [[Shinkansen]] ({{convert|675|km|mi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}} in 2 hours 59 minutes) are examples of this type of journey. In conventional non high-speed rail, [[Sleeping Car|overnight train]]s are common for this distance.

* '''1,000&nbsp;km or more'''

In some countries with a dense rail network, large territory, or less air and car transport, such as China, India, and Russia, overnight long-distance train services are provided and used practically.

In many other countries, such long-distance rail journey has been replaced by air travel except for tourism or hobbyist purposes, luxury train journeys, or significant cost benefit. [[Amtrak]] long-distance services in the United States, [[Via Rail]]'s [[Canadian (train)|Canadian]] service in Canada, and the [[Indian Pacific]] in Australia are examples.

Faster high-speed rail of at least {{convert|250|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} per hour, such as the [[Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway]] in China ({{convert|1300|km|mi|-1|abbr=on|disp=or}} in 5 hours) and Tokyo-Sapporo in the proposed [[Hokkaido Shinkansen]] in Japan ({{convert|1030|km|mi|-1|abbr=on|disp=or}} in 4 hours), may play a significant role in long-distance travel in the future.