Do they really need money or did they waste it? Spain has the largest train HSR in Europe and the second of the world

Spain has the largest train high-speed rail network (HSR) in Europe and the second of the world. It has a significantly high figure: 2,665 km. They are more kilometers than in France, which has 1,896, and that in Germany (1,285). In the rest of the world, only China (with 4,079 km) –and also Japan (2,534 km), according to the UIC ranking– are ahead.

The current map of Spanish high-speed draws attention, first of all, for its radiality. All the corridors have Madrid as their epicenter, although some transversal AVE services - those that link Barcelona with Seville and Malaga - border the capital without stopping there, thanks to a bypass. There are others, especially the medium-distance Avant, that nurture relationships between cities along the different axes, many of them far from Madrid. The Government's plans foresee other lines - there are 1,767 km under construction, according to the UIC - that must break, at least partially, this radiality. But most of them follow this same scheme. Another relevant aspect is that the Spanish network is isolated from that of the rest of Europe. It will reach the border in 2012m but will not be linked to the bulk of the continent until 2020, when France completes its southern corridor.

On the other hand, having more network in operation does not mean having the highest volume of travelers. High speed transported 17.1 million passengers in Spain in 2009, divided between long-distance trains (AVE), which totaled 11.5 million, and medium-distance trains (Avant), with another 5.6 million. Although it is difficult to make comparisons with other countries - due to the lack of comparable figures - some sources have quantified the distances, which are enormous. According to Germà Bel, Professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona, ​​the Spanish passage is only 7% of the Japanese, 15% of the French or 30% of the German.