Page 6 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

SPECIAL

years of Spanish high speed rail

with the AVE. The cities now reached by high speed
rail have also benefited from more tourism and
more conferences; in short they have been placed
on the world map of attractive destinations.
But high speed rail has also had other
collateral effects on the rail system, such as freeing
up capacity on conventional lines for freight
services (a freight train from Madrid to Seville now
takes half the time to cover the distance than it did
in 1990), the possibility of increasing frequencies
on suburban lines, the provision of feeder traffic
to regional lines, etc.
And looking further afield than the rail
system itself, high speed rail has enabled Spain to
develop its own technology backed by a specialized
industry which has become cutting edge globally,
while Spanish engineering firms have triumphed
the world over with the knowhow acquired in the

Spain’s competitive

advantage in high speed

rail has been achieved by

combining technologies

from various sources

and obtaining the best

performance and the most

effective knowledge transfer.

process of implementing high speed rail in Spain.
We are now at the beginning of the second
quarter century of high speed rail in Spain. This is
a challenge for which we are far better prepared
now than we were 25 years ago. Even so there will
still be some uncharted territory and difficulties to
face, but also some marvellous opportunities. The
digitization of society, environmental challenges,
and the development of other transport modes
will make it necessary to work hard to retain
our leadership position, to ensure that in the
21st century the railway continues to be the
most efficient and socially most useful mode of
transport. That high speed rail continues to deliver
its “miraculous” effects of multiplying passenger
numbers and benefits to society, while reducing
costs and becoming a potential tool for improving
people’s quality of life.

6 Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition