There have been talk of high-speed rail (HSR) lines in Poland since the beginning of the 1990s. High-speed railways have been in operation in the world for much longer, because already in the 1960s in Japan the first trains that could move at speeds above 200 km / h began to be operated. In the study below, the main goal was to determine the changes in accessibility in individual car transport as a result of the construction of high-speed rail in the Łódź Province. In order to estimate changes in the potential accessibility of settlement units before and after the commissioning of new or modernized sections of railway lines, it was necessary to generate focal points of communes in the voivodship and assign them the number of inhabitants. The obtained results prove that each of the seven variants will contribute to a decrease in potential accessibility in the Łódź Province.

The work deals with the changes in the railway network in Romania in the years 1990-2020. As in other countries, it is characterized by regress, but to a lesser extent than in the countries of the region. The aim of the study is to indicate the size of the changes taking place in terms of four spatial levels: country, macroregions, development regions and Romanian counties. Another goal of the analysis undertaken is to assess changes in the quality of the railway network in the analyzed period. Two research hypotheses were put forward, the first one with a small impact of the EU funds on the development of the rail network, the second about the lack of impact of EU funding on changes in the quality of rail transport in Romania. In the research and data analysis, the official Romanian statistical databases on changes in the length of railway lines in individual spatial ranges for the analyzed period were used, as well as data from the „Ranking railroad, The Global economy” portal to assess quality changes in rail transport. Statistical methods and rankings were used in the analysis. The method of comparisons with other countries in the region was used to assess the quality changes. In the study, the literature on the subject was widely used, both concerning the studied country and other countries in the regions of Central Europe and the Balkans. The thesis about the low impact of EU funds on changes in the railway network, which has been positively verified, has been verified. The result of the study is an indication of a much smaller regress in rail transport in Romania than in other countries of the region. The greatest increase in the length of railway lines took place in the eastern regions of the country and in border counties, especially on the border with Hungary. In the analyzed period of time, the quality in rail transport did not improve significantly in practice.

Rail transport offers a huge benefit to Nigeria’s socio-economic activities because of its capacity to pull huge volumes of freight and convey large numbers of passengers. Despite these, commerce and socio-economic cohesion have been badly affected as road transport still dominates in overland transport. The revitalization of the rail mode towards economy recovery has suffered greatly since the 1970s. This study examines the spatiotemporal development of the railways in Nigeria. The methodology comprises longitudinal research design spanning over 30 years, from 1970 to 2016. The study reveals the spatiotemporal influence of rail transportation on the spatial development of localities and cities by attracting passengers, cargoes, and revenue receipts. The findings reveals also that rail transportation is experiencing a remarkable transition but has not attained the optimal level in rail development and performance across the country. Therefore more investment and better management are still needed.

The research on the sustainability transitions – a fundamental change in socio-technological systems consisting in increasing the degree of sustainability of production and consumption processes – gained significant dynamics in the second decade of the 21st century, manifested by the expansion and integration of the research community and the growth of article numbers. As part of this trend, the geography of sustainability transitions has emerged. It explains how and why transitions are similar or different across locations. The article’s main aim is to outline the socio-technological perspective of the geographical research on sustainable urban mobility and place within it the achievements of research on Polish cities. Literature studies were bidirectional: (i) identifying possible applications and benefits that the concept of sustainability transitions provides to mobility research in Polish cities, (ii) analysing of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in the Transport Geography Papers of Polish Geographical Society on urban mobility in the context of the identified geographic factors of transitions. The study outcomes showed the dominance of the shift in modal split framed by formal visions, strategies and development policies. The significance of this issue resulted from the importance of public transport in research on transport geography and the dependence of transportation branches on local authorities. The insertion of the analysed achievements within the framework of the multi-level perspective showed that the vast majority of the works concerned the functioning of socio-technological regimes rooted in the structures of cities. The marginal treatment of the macro-level (socio-technological landscape) and the micro-level (innovation in niches) and focusing on selected regularities in the functioning of regimes resulted in a narrowing of the time perspective of the research. A particular challenge for the study of transport geography seems to be the issue of reducing transport needs and its impact on the spatial structure and the functioning of urban transport systems and mobility patterns. The breadth of the issues of transition paths towards sustainable mobility seems to favour the integration of a new, administratively separated scientific discipline, which is socio-economic geography and spatial management. In practical terms, it inspires the territorialisation of development policies.

Italy, characterised by a very well developed polycentric urban network and being among the most motorised countries in Europe, has a very high potential for the development of new light rail systems. Although tram networks have never been completely dismantled there, the vast majority of them was closed after the Second World War. In 2003, the construction of new tram systems began. To date, eight networks have been built: in Bergamo, Cagliari, Florence, Messina, Padua, Palermo, Sassari and Venice with a total length of 101.8 km. The networks are rather short – only the systems in Venice, Palermo and Florence have more than 15 km of track. Both classic and fast tram as well as tram-train lines were built. Due to their rather short length and limited service of city centres, their impact on urban transport is mostly moderate. It should be stressed, however, that especially lines with a well-chosen route, connecting the city with satellite centres or crossing the entire city with a passage through the centre, are undoubtedly successful, attracting millions of passengers a year who used to use individual transport which results in an unquestionable benefit for the environment and traffic safety. Also the important role of new tram systems as catalysers of urban regeneration should be highlighted. It applies in particular to public spaces that are being given back to pedestrians and cyclists. Italy’s new tram systems are still in their infancy, so it is too early to evaluate their wider impact on modal share and motorisation rates across the city, let alone in the country. Nevertheless, the considerable potential of Italian cities for the further development of light rail systems is demonstrated by ambitious expansion plans for most existing networks, as well as the intention to implement completely new systems.