The construction of overland transport infrastructure has had a major social and economic impacts by reducing travel costs and travel times. One of the key questions I am interested in is how travel time improvements have changed the level of accessibility and interaction opportunity within territories. I have made this movie to demonstrate the extent in which historical railroad construction in the Netherlands has affected travel times to the country’s capital, Amsterdam. Greater travel time improvements are demonstrated by lighter hues. The actual year is shown in the upper left corner.
To me, the movie and underlying data show two important things: first, that railroad construction has substantially altered travel times; second, that the largest improvements in travel times were realized in the first stages of railroad network development. The latest stages, when numerous local lines were added to the network, have much less effect on travel time savings.
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