Evaluation of Competitiveness of Rail Transport on Example of Connection Among Regional Capitals in Czechia

The article is focused on evaluating the significance of rail passenger transport in transport contacts among regional capitals in Czechia representing the most important centres in the settlement hierarchy. The review of the particular connections works with the values of the year 2007 and is based on the relationship between supply and demand for rail passenger traffic. The evaluation is based on the number of rail links within the working day, while assuming that the supply is influenced by the location of the centre in the transport network and its position in the settlement hierarchy. Real demand data represent the number of tickets sold by the Czech Railways. Theoretical size of the interaction is obtained by application of the gravity model. Based on the final evaluation of indicators of supply and demand for rail traffic among regional capitals and their interactions, relations are described where demand is substantially below, respectively beyond the level of real supply and theoretical interaction, which is based on the importance of centres and their accessibility of the railway transport in time. In conclusion, the opportunities for the development of infrastructure in the selected connection in relation to transport planning are outlined, using the obtained results.