High-Speed Railways in Spain

The Spanish high-speed railway (HSR) network has developed swiftly over the past few years. In less than two decades, this network has already become the second longest in Europe and the third in the world ranking, and the network continues to grow. Given this situation and given that the Spanish HSR system is considered by several governments as an example to follow, the authors of this paper analyzed whether the Spanish case could be considered an example of success in terms of HSR and whether some Spanish practices could be improved on. A thorough analysis presents the Spanish HSR network in terms of its use, competitiveness with air travel, environmental and territorial impacts, and profitability and costs. The results of this analysis allowed conclusions to be drawn regarding the success of the Spanish HSR and some recommendations to be made for decision makers planning the construction of a high-speed line.