IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/rwirep/306843.html

The value of passenger rail access

Author

Listed:
  • Flintz, Joschka

Abstract

This study quantifies the effect of train station openings on residential house prices across Germany over a 12-year period to provide generalizable evidence on the valuation of access to passenger rail by households. It is based on data on about 90 train station openings between 2009 and 2020 in Germany and a Differencein-Differences model that uses three different control group variants to cover alternative assumptions about unobserved regional heterogeneity to mitigate problems arising from endogenous transport infrastructure provision. The results indicate that train station openings increase residential house prices on average by 5% (€18,000) within a distance of up to two to three kilometers. Notably, these positive effects are observed exclusively for properties without prior access to passenger rail services, and are significantly larger in more densely populated and urban areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Flintz, Joschka, 2024. "The value of passenger rail access," Ruhr Economic Papers 1114, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:306843
    DOI: 10.4419/96973292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/306843/1/1909407089.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4419/96973292?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mayer, Thierry & Trevien, Corentin, 2017. "The impact of urban public transportation evidence from the Paris region," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1-21.
    2. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Nitsch, Volker & Wendland, Nicolai, 2019. "Ease vs. noise: Long-run changes in the value of transport (dis)amenities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Mayer, Thierry & Trevien, Corentin, 2017. "The impact of urban public transportation evidence from the Paris region," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1-21.
    4. Konstantin Büchel & Stephan Kyburz, 2020. "Fast track to growth? Railway access, population growth and local displacement in 19th century Switzerland," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 155-195.
    5. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    6. Gibbons, Stephen & Machin, Stephen, 2005. "Valuing rail access using transport innovations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 148-169, January.
    7. Daniel F Heuermann & Johannes F Schmieder, 2019. "The effect of infrastructure on worker mobility: evidence from high-speed rail expansion in Germany," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 335-372.
    8. Gibbons, Stephen & Heblich, Stephan & Pinchbeck, Edward W., 2024. "The spatial impacts of a massive rail disinvestment program: The Beeching Axe," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    9. Sebastian Brandt & Wolfgang Maennig, 2012. "The impact of rail access on condominium prices in Hamburg," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(5), pages 997-1017, September.
    10. Alex Chernoff & Andrea N. Craig, 2022. "Distributional And Housing Price Effects From Public Transit Investment: Evidence From Vancouver," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 475-509, February.
    11. Pilgram, Clemens A. & West, Sarah E., 2018. "Fading premiums: The effect of light rail on residential property values in Minneapolis, Minnesota," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-10.
    12. Diao, Mi & Leonard, Delon & Sing, Tien Foo, 2017. "Spatial-difference-in-differences models for impact of new mass rapid transit line on private housing values," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 64-77.
    13. Gabriel M Ahlfeldt & Arne Feddersen, 2018. "From periphery to core: measuring agglomeration effects using high-speed rail," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 355-390.
    14. H. Spencer Banzhaf, 2021. "Difference-in-Differences Hedonics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(8), pages 2385-2414.
    15. Devaux, Nicolas & Dubé, Jean & Apparicio, Philippe, 2017. "Anticipation and post-construction impact of a metro extension on residential values: The case of Laval (Canada), 1995–2013," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 8-19.
    16. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    17. Cohen, Jeffrey P. & Brown, Mike, 2017. "Does a new rail rapid transit line announcement affect various commercial property prices differently?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 74-90.
    18. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    19. Mario Liebensteiner & Jakob Losert & Sarah Necker & Florian Neumeier & Jörg Paetzold & Sebastian Wichert, 2024. "Almost Fare Free: Impact of a Cheap Public Transport Ticket on Mobility Patterns and Infrastructure Quality," CESifo Working Paper Series 11229, CESifo.
    20. Ahlfeldt Gabriel M., 2011. "The Train has Left the Station: Do Markets Value Intracity Access to Intercity Rail Connections?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 312-335, August.
    21. Tyndall, Justin, 2021. "The local labour market effects of light rail transit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dubé, Jean & Le Gallo, Julie & Des Rosiers, François & Legros, Diègo & Champagne, Marie-Pier, 2024. "An integrated causal framework to evaluate uplift value with an example on change in public transport supply," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    2. Melser, Daniel, 2020. "Estimating the housing capitalization effects of new infrastructure: Should we be using rents instead of prices?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 402-421.
    3. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Zhang, Haoran, 2020. "Metro and urban growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Rennert, Lindiwe, 2022. "A meta-analysis of the impact of rail stations on property values: Applying a transit planning lens," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 165-180.
    6. Wang, Ke-Liang & Jiang, Wei & Miao, Zhuang, 2023. "Impact of high-speed railway on urban resilience in China: Does urban innovation matter?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    7. Mei, Yingdan & Su, Xiaoning & Liu, Pengfei & Lan, Hong & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy), 2025. "The economic impact of hydrogen energy infrastructure in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. John Murray & Eleni Bardaka, 2022. "Evaluating the spatial and temporal distribution of beltway effects on housing prices using difference-in-differences methods," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1963-1998, December.
    9. Diao, Mi & Li, Qiang & Sing, Tien Foo & Zhan, Changwei, 2023. "Disamenities of living close to transit tracks: Evidence from Singapore's MRT system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    10. Ahmed El Fatmaoui, 2024. "From high school to higher education: Is recreational marijuana a consumption amenity for US college students?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1024-1045, July.
    11. Tian, Chuanhao & Peng, Ying & Wen, Haizhen & Yue, Wenze & Fang, Li, 2021. "Subway boosts housing values, for whom: A quasi-experimental analysis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Basso, Leonardo J. & Navarro, Matias & Silva, Hugo E., 2021. "Public transport and urban structure," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    13. Pogonyi, Csaba G. & Graham, Daniel J. & Carbo, Jose M., 2021. "Metros, agglomeration and displacement. Evidence from London," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Zhang, Min, 2023. "Value uplift from transit investment-Property value or land value? A case study of the Gold Coast light rail system in Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 88-98.
    15. Rik Chakraborti & Gavin Roberts, 2023. "How price-gouging regulation undermined COVID-19 mitigation: county-level evidence of unintended consequences," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 51-83, July.
    16. Wang, Yimin, 2025. "Links between COVID-19 lockdowns and drug overdose deaths, evidence from panel data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    17. Wu, Libo & Zhou, Yang, 2025. "Social norms and energy conservation in China," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Cordonnier, Victor & Covarrubias, Katia Alejandra & de la O Campos, Ana Paula, 2024. "The impacts of widespread agricultural interventions on yields and food security in Ethiopia☆," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    19. Fang, Hongxing & Chen, Linghong & Xiong, Jiacai & Zhu, Yushu, 2024. "Social Trust and Entrepreneurship: Insights from China's Social Credit System," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    20. Gibbon, Kayshani & Derwall, Jeroen & Gerritsen, Dirk & Koedijk, Kees, 2025. "Renaming with purpose: Investor response and fund manager behaviour after fund ESG renaming," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:rwirep:306843. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rwiesde.html .

    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.