Rail Travel, Asia & Pacific

The size and diversity of Asia and Pacific makes providing a summary about rail travel in the region extremely difficult. The sheer size of Asia and many of the countries within it has meant that there tended to be limited cross-border rail connections. Partly as a consequence of this, there is also limited need for standardized policies and regulations across the area, as may be found in Europe, for example. So when countries have looked to make changes and improvements to their rail infrastructure, they have largely been able to do without considerations about systems and practices in [Page 999]other countries in Asia and Pacific. The main themes this entry covers are the development of high-speed railways, the use of rail for commuting (primarily in ...