Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and High-Speed Rail Operators: Do Not Let the Train Pass!

Rail operators are developing their own Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) applications for mobility management, integrating all the transport links for door-to-door intermodal journeys. In this context, this paper analyses the main challenges railway operators face when implementing their new MaaS applications on a national scale, analysing and evaluating the factors influencing the successful implementation of MaaS in cities with high-speed rail services. These factors are related directly to the adaptation of MaaS services to different geographies, from large metropolitan areas to small cities located in rural environments. The differences among all the HSR cities in Spain are related to both socioeconomic and transport systems’ variables. Smaller cities are generally in a more rural/suburban environment, with higher percentages of aged and illiterate inhabitants, who are much more vulnerable to the digital divide. In addition, these areas present very few and/or inefficient public transport options, and practically non-existent shared mobility services, largely limiting the possibility of competing for private car mobility. Our paper’s analysis of all these factors fills a gap in the literature and opens the debate about different approaches and transport policies that rail operators could adopt when entering the MaaS environment.