Map of Europe in which real distances seem shorter thanks to the high-speed train
From Barcelona: The Urban Evolution of a Compact City, by Joan Busquets, published by Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
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January 12, 2006
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Could you briefly describe the difference between each map? I don't quite understand what the differences are... Thanks Dan!
Posted by: Phil Gyford | January 18, 2006 at 02:00 PM
The way I read it, at a very basic level admittedly, is that London to Paris looks like a short hop on the right-hand map as opposed to the 'geographically-accurate' left-hand map, in which the scale equates to travelling at approx. 60km per hour. That scaling then morphs to the right, as you increase the kph. So France looks a lot smaller in the right-hand map, due to the TGV and Scotland looks comparatively big due to its lack of TGV-equivalent, and so on. That make sense? (I partly posted so other people would offer interpretations, as there was no further explanation in the book other than this!)
Posted by: Dan | January 18, 2006 at 03:22 PM
I think that makes sense... I wasn't really sure why there were three maps - I would only expect two: One geographically correct, normal, map and another using the actual speeds of trains.
For ages I've wanted to create a map like this with costs of airfares, especially seeing how/if budget airlines change the apparent distances. But I've got no idea how to go about drawing such a map.
Posted by: Phil Gyford | January 22, 2006 at 11:22 AM
Nicolas Nova posted two similar maps a while back, but I don't know if they are from the same original source.
The two maps there were distorted to show the difference between rail travel times in 1993 and 2020. I like that Eastern Europe notably contracts inwards, and I also note that Scotland doesn't really distort at all, though of course it moves closer to everywhere else.
I'd been wondering how my own London tube travel time map could be used to illustrate the contractions of London following all the planned extensions to the transport network, crossrail in particular. I'd need a authoratitive data source though, it's no small task for a part-time project!
Posted by: Tom Carden | February 08, 2006 at 10:12 AM
Regarding Phil's comments about air-fare maps, something similar has been attempted with the Personal World Map which distorts the map of the world according to air routes, and notably respects both the means of travel and the traveller's means to pay.
Posted by: Tom Carden | February 08, 2006 at 10:14 AM
Trackback: Compressed Space/Time Map of Europe for High Speed Trains from Magical Urbanism: "Check out this map from Barcelona: The Urban Evolution of a Compact City, by Joan Busquets, published by the Harvard Graduate School of Design. It shows how space and time are distorted when you view distances traveled in Europe not in real distanc..." [Read More]
Posted by: Magical Urbanism | April 30, 2006 at 04:26 PM
Trackback: Maps by High Speed Train Time from Vector One: "Distances are distorted in Europe when high-speed trains trek across the landscape. One way of representing the differences between travel times is through using maps. Such maps appear warped and change shape as time is represented through high-speed ..." [Read More]
Posted by: Vector One | April 30, 2006 at 04:29 PM