Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may determine that a cell is associated with a deployment mode based on a condition being satisfied, where the deployment mode may be associated with serving one or more UEs travelling at high speeds. The UE may select from one of a frequency-based initial cell selection or a cell-based initial cell selection and may measure one or more frequencies of one or more cells including the cell to obtain a set of measured parameters, each cell corresponding to a respective deployment mode and a respective measured parameter. The UE may select a candidate cell from the one or more cells based on the respective measured parameters of each cell and the respective deployment modes of each cell and may establish a connection with the candidate cell based on the selecting.