IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v127y2025ics0966692325001838.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Complex network analysis of China's integrated air-high-speed rail network: Topological characteristics, centrality measures, and cluster analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Lu, Mengyuan
  • Perez, Edgar Jimenez
  • Mason, Keith

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive complex network analysis of China's integrated air-High-Speed Rail (HSR) network by constructing a directed weighted network and comparing its complex characteristics with its sub-networks. The findings reveal that, beyond small-world properties, the networks exhibit broad-scale characteristics with a rapid decline in degree distribution, deviating from the traditional scale-free model due to operational constraints and market saturation. Centrality analysis highlights the rising importance of secondary hubs, such as Xi'an, Kunming, and Zhengzhou, as strategic transit points linking urban centres and peripheral regions. The integrated network achieves enhanced efficiency through hybrid modularity, combining the aviation network's centralised structure with the HSR network's corridor-focused design. While this integration fosters economic connectivity and regional development, resilience challenges emerge due to reliance on high-centrality nodes. These findings offer implications for intermodal transport planning and regional development.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Mengyuan & Perez, Edgar Jimenez & Mason, Keith, 2025. "Complex network analysis of China's integrated air-high-speed rail network: Topological characteristics, centrality measures, and cluster analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:127:y:2025:i:c:s0966692325001838
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.104292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692325001838
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.104292?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:127:y:2025:i:c:s0966692325001838. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.