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The spatial competition between containerised rail and sea transport in Eurasia

Author

Listed:
  • Mengqiu Lu

    (Nanjing University of Finance and Economics)

  • Yu Chen

    (Nanjing Normal University)

  • Robin Morphet

    (University College London)

  • Yuqi Lu

    (Nanjing Normal University)

  • Enkang Li

    (Nanjing Normal University)

Abstract

The competition in space between rail and sea transport is of great significance to the integration of Eurasia. This paper proposes a land and sea transport spatial balance model for container transport, which can extract a partition line on which transport costs by rail and sea are equal given a destination. Four scenarios are discussed to analyse the effects of different factors on the model. Then the model is empirically tested on current rail and sea transport networks to identify the transport competition pattern in Eurasia. The location of destinations, the freight costs, and time costs are the three main factors affecting the model. Among them, time costs are determined by the value of a container and its contents, the interest rate, and by time differences between land and sea transport. The case study shows that Eurasia forms a transport competition pattern with a land area to sea area ratio of about 1:2; this ratio, however, changes to 1:1 when time costs are considered. Further, the land and sea transport balance lines are consistent with the theories of geopolitics, which indicate that the same processes may exist in the spatial pattern of geo-economics and geopolitics in Eurasia. According to the balance lines, we get a spatial partition, dividing Eurasia into the land transport preferred area, the land–sea transport indifference area, and the sea transport preferred area. The paper brings a new perspective to the exploration of geopolitical economic spatial patterns of Eurasia and provides a practical geographic theory as an analytic basis for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Suggested Citation

  • Mengqiu Lu & Yu Chen & Robin Morphet & Yuqi Lu & Enkang Li, 2019. "The spatial competition between containerised rail and sea transport in Eurasia," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:5:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-019-0334-6
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-019-0334-6
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    2. Aldona Jarašūnienė & Kristina Čižiūnienė, 2021. "Ensuring Sustainable Freight Carriage through Interoperability between Maritime and Rail Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Qi, Yingxiu & Harrod, Steven & Psaraftis, Harilaos N. & Lang, Maoxiang, 2022. "Transport service selection and routing with carbon emissions and inventory costs consideration in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).

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