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Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond:Accessible Regions, Growing Regions?Call for papersThird international conference of the of Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond, programme, Canterbury (UK), Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, Kentish Barn,Wednesday, 16 March 2016Deadline for submission of abstracts:                                                       31 December  2015Notification of acceptance                                                                           15 January 2015Deadline for submission of full paper (working paper)                               29 February 2016Deadline for submission of full paper (final paper) for publication      1 May 2016The conference will be held in English and French.Abstracts should be sent by 31 December 2015 to 20yearschunnel@ahicf.com.Complete CFP and information attached in pdf or to be downloaded here: http://www.ahicf.com/vingt-annees-sous-la-manche-et-au-dela-twenty-years-under-the-channel-and-beyond.html?id_article=817&#38;sid_article=1131Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond: Accessible Regions, Growing Regions? is the third international conference on the agenda of Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond, the research and events programme led by Rails et histoire, the French Railway Historical Society, to celebrate 20th Anniversary of the railway Channel tunnel and 30th Anniversary of the Channel tunnel Treaty.The programme Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond strongly encourages the dialogue between the academic world, corporations and administrations. International conferences bring together academics, professionals and policy makers interested in transport infrastructure and economic development, changes in society and cultural exchanges, with a focus on the cross-Channel rail infrastructure and services between London, Paris and Brussels and beyond.Contributors to the conference are invited to present research papers or case-studies, to recount and share their experience as actors in this history, and all are welcome to take a part in the open discussion which is one of the main objectives of the Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond programme.Twenty years under the Channel, and beyond:Accessible Regions, Growing Regions?Call for papersThird international conference, Canterbury (UK), Cathedral Lodge, Wednesday, 16 March 2016PreambleTransportation infrastructure is often stated as a condition for economic growth and development and few assertions have been more controversial (Offner, 1993). Following pioneer works on railways in the 1960s by Robert W. Vogel, Paul Krugman, Albert Fishlow and François Caron, as well as studies led in Japan in the wake of the Shinkansen (Amano and Fujita, 1970), a rich literature, starting from the seminal and controversial work of David Aschauer, has been dedicated to this connection, with a recent focus on emerging markets (Summerhill, 2003; Banerjee, Duflo, Qian, 2012). Today and for the foreseeable future, planning and construction of transportation infrastructure remain the mainstay of development programmes and keep on raising vivid economic policy debates, in view of the amount of mobilised resources and the necessary investment trade-offs.The present conference, being the third on the agenda, aims at assessing the effects of cross-Channel rail link operations on the economy of the regions involved over the last two decades: primarily Kent, Nord Pas-de-Calais and Flanders - keeping in mind the longer reach of road freight using the Shuttle and through-train freight services -, but also the three capital cities served by cross-Channel rail services: London, Paris and Brussels. Prospective consideration of larger areas is legitimate as well in view of the potential extension of rail infrastructure and / or services to the Midlands - North of the UK and Southern France on the one hand, Amsterdam and Frankfurt on the other hand.TopicThe cross-Channel railway link is the largest infrastructure project of the 20th Century. The tunnel and connected high-speed lines constitute a pharaonic and successful technical achievement. They carried more than 350 million passengers since 1994 with the highest safety records.Beyond the tunnel, the cross-Channel link is a unique case of interdependent infrastructures, giving shape to a complex transport system including the Channel Tunnel Railway Link (CTRL, now High Speed 1), continental ‘LGV’s (high speed trains dedicated lines), Eurostar services, High Speed 2 project, not to mention the substantial road access built around the tunnel and further developments in Kent and Nord Pas-de-Calais regions. Moreover, the contrasted economic profiles of the two regions which are immediately connected offer a relevant case study for the role played by transportation infrastructure in economic growth and development.Which was the role played by this innovative transport system in the development of the regions it serves? How geographical areas and economic exchanges have been shaped by the transport system and what are the impact and dissemination of the economic and social benefits? Has the cross-Channel link made territories more attractive, sharpened their competitive edge, caused growth and diversions? What has been the focus of investment and direct foreign investment? Have results lived up to expectations and territorial development theory? What external effects can be identified? Who are the winners and the losers? How do we assess the impact on regional integration (Euroregion Kent-NPC), North-South divide and London, Paris, Brussels, the Nord-Pas de Calais, Flanders and South-East England?To isolate growth factors and relate them to the new infrastructure and services is one of the main challenges in such studies. The use of the broadest possible array of metrics and indicators beyond GDP and per capita GDP is hence strongly encouraged (e.g. Foreign Direct Investment, income level, employment rates, tourism growth, real estate prices, numbers of start-up created, head office / branches relocation). Empirical studies and qualitative data as well as analysis of individual economic decisions should complement quantitative data, models and statistics, cost-benefit analysis and be included in theory.The impulse given by the construction works should be seen as separate from the question of the activity generated since 1994 by the operation of the transport system, which is the focus here. Special attention should be paid to actual developments versus expectations which were expressed prior to the construction of the cross-Channel rail link, and to the broader effects for regions not immediately served by it. Useful ex-ante data is provided by the Bechtel study, 1985, the “Plan d’accompagnement Transmanche” (1986); House of Commons Select Committees, ACT and alii study (1992); CTRL studies (cf. Below short bibliography).The proceedings of the Lille conference on New Aspects of Transport Geography and Economics, available at www.ahicf.com, provide updated data and analysis on the changes incurred in cross-Channel traffic flows.Contributors are invited to submit papers on the following topics, but not limited to them:A.     Channel Rail Link and economic growth :·         What are the patterns for economic cycles since 1994 in the regions immediately served by the cross-Channel rail link (Kent, Nord-Pas de Calais and Flanders), and to what extent could these effects be related to the new infrastructure?·         What are the effects of the system such as social savings, tariff effects and transport price convergence in regional economies served?·         Does concentration of the cross-Channel services (tunnel, Calais-Dover route) lead to over-reliance on a single corridor for UK-Continental Europe links? What is the impact of this concentration on the economies of the adjacent regions? Are they wider impacts? How do traffic disruptions and the response made to them (e.g. Operation Stack) affect local business?B.   Channel Rail Link and relocation:·         Does the cross-Channel link facilitate input and favour the concentration of production factors such as labour and capital or, on the contrary, bring about their exit?·         Does the extension or renovation of railway stations contribute to economic growth, especially in terms of urban renovation?·         Does the high-speed network influence location of activity, urban patterns, land versus city occupation, and, as such, economic growth dynamics and spatial distribution or integration?·         Does the lack of through services to the Midlands and North produce an economic, measurable effect? Same for direct night services? What would be the impact of HS2?·         Would a Transmanche Metro answer regional economic needs and improve employment patterns?·         Seen in the long term, and using a comparative approach, do regions show a better economic performance after they benefited from the Channel rail link services than before, when compared to both countries’ overall performance, or to cross-border regions with no such major transportation infrastructure?C.   Channel Rail Link effects discrimination :·         Which industries and sectors benefit most, directly and indirectly, from the cross-Channel rail link? Does the link influence regional trade patterns (import/export)?·         How is tourism affected? Is the loss of day-trip traffic on Channel coasts compensated in local economies?Rails et histoire / French Railway Historical Society - 9, rue du Château-Landon, F-75010 PARIS - Tél. / Phone: +33(0)1 5820 51 01 - Fax: +33(0)1 5820 5189 - contact@ahicf.com - http://www.ahicf.com/ Rejoignez-nous : ZA102637861ZA102637858