Coupling coordination analysis between railway transport accessibility and tourism economic connection during 2010–2019: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta

The rapid development of the railway transport network and the improvement of transport accessibility (TA) have the potential to facilitate the regional tourism industries and tourism economic connection (TEC). Quantifying the mutual interaction between TA and TEC is crucial for promoting coordinated and sustainable development. Our study focused on 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. By utilizing train schedule data from the 12306.cn website and statistics for 2010 and 2019, the weighted average travel time for each city was calculated to represent the regional railway TA. The modified gravity model incorporating average travel distances was then introduced to estimate the intensity of TEC between cities. Finally, a coupling coordination model was constructed to quantify the coupling correlation degree (CCD) between railway TA and TEC. The comparison results for 2019 and 2010 revealed an improved TA and its overall equilibrium in the YRD region, with a “core-periphery” pattern. The trend towards a spatially networked intensity of regional TEC became noticeable, with key railways as the axes. The CCD between regional railway TA and TEC showed an overall upward trend, where about 87% of cities improved at least one CCD grade. The regional spatial imbalances decreased but still existed, where southern and eastern cities were more coordinated. The reliability of proposed methods was also confirmed by correlations with socioeconomic indicators and population flow data. This study can provide fundamental support for the coordinated development of regional tourism and transport system, and integrated development strategy of the YRD region.