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HSR written HSR (High Speed Rail) , as apparent from its name is a new family member of rail transportation that is capable of exceeding the conventio nal r ail speed s (Conventional rail speed 120km/hr). According to EU Directive 20 04/50/EC, the defined operational speed for a new HSR lin e is 250km/hr and 200 km/hr for an upgraded line. This subsequent speed comes at a price as conventional rai ln infrastructure cannot support such speeds. HSR needs a dedicated infrastructure that can accommodate the requirements of HSR.is capable to cater this advantage . This include s the rolling sto ck, track geometr y, power and electrification, maintenance, operation and signalling. Although iInfrastructural maintenance costs areis comparable with conventional rail, but construction costs , acquisition, operati ngon and rolling stock maintenance makes this transport alternative an expensive option (De Rus 2008). It is due to the because of magnitude of theseis costs that most HSR projects are considered to be majo r proj ects. The early development of HSR in Europe was entirely at the national level but in 1993 , Treaty of Maastricht called for a network of Trans-European lines, linking the existing HSR lines (Nash 2009). The TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) which enforces the Maastricht treaty of 1993, was planned to induce the economical development and diminish the gap in the region by promoting the HSR (Lee 2007). The TEN-T is a key element of the European transport policy, and the construction of a HSR network is still among the priorities of this policy (European Commission, 2001a) (De Rus Nambola 2006). HSR investment projects of European member countries are financiall y supported by the European C ommission. `Revitalizing the railways´ (European Commission, 2001a) (De RUS 2008). According to a study review by Le e (Lee 2007 ) he concluded that HSR has the potential to improve regional development and the local economy, the detailed findings of the report can be found in table 14 his finding are illustrated in table 14 . The construction of a new line in EU, Chinas announcement that it intends to spend $162bn to expand its railway system and the decision by theof US government to include HSR passenger service as a centrepiece of national transport policy has given a new endorsement to the technology (De Rus 2009). The type of asset investment in the infrastructure is considered irreversible. So is investment in HSR worth it? The simple answer is: it depends (De Rus 2009). It is fair to expect the rail projects were authorised based on their economical prospects ,. hHowever research has shown this to be otherwise. STG (STG 2004) found most countries Comment [b1]: Is this a full stop or a reference?
