A country, a society, can be defined in many ways. Also by how it moves. At present, the restrictions on private vehicles in large cities, the regulation of scooters and bicycles and the need to have a good public transport alternative that makes it possible to do without the private car are frequent topics in public debate. As the effects of climate change have become more evident and, with them, social concern for the environment has grown, the train has been gaining prominence. Both the commuter option, the most used by the population on their daily journeys, and longer journeys, in which it has already become a serious alternative to the plane. And this is where high speed has its raison d’etre. On the 15th anniversary of the first AVE that traveled the Barcelona-Madrid route, analyzing its evolution and its future challenges is also analyzing where we are headed as a society.
The first AVE that connected Sants and Atocha in 2008 contributed to boost socio-economic relations between the Catalan and Spanish capitals. The service was inaugurated when the line had been in operation for 16 years Madrid-Seville, that although it was much less strategic for the Spanish economy, it was preferred to prioritize by political decision. The Barcelona-Madrid route, which was long in coming (and this leads us to ask how many opportunities were wasted due to the delay), provided some advantages that made it a preferred option for travellers, especially business travelers. He quickly ousted the airlift for speed, punctuality and comfort (it went from center to urban center).
The second revolution in Spanish high speed has come with the liberalization. The entry of competitors has led, as was to be expected, to lowering prices (up to 50%) and increasing frequencies. Once the covid break has been overcome, the volume of travelers is growing steadily. Competition -forced by the deregulation process promoted by Brussels- has made high speed more accessible to a greater variety of passengers, who before they opted for low cost flights or by car, more polluting. The arrival of the French ouigofrom the state company SNCF, spurred Renfe to launch its low cost trains, AVLOoffer to which were later added the iryo, of a Spanish-Italian consortium formed by AirNostrum, Globalvia and Trenitalia. Currently, passengers have up to four brands to choose from, and high speed has become popular beyond business trips.
Having reached this normalization in the use of the railway connection between the two great capitals of Spain is cause for celebration. It should also serve as spur to keep moving forward on this ground. Renfe applies its experience in other countries in an internationalization plan (the future routes from Barcelona to Lyon and Marseille are of special interest). And within Spain, we must continue developing -as planned- more lines between cities, which exceed the current radial network with the center in Madrid (a Mediterranean corridor is also necessary for high speed). all this, without relegating the investment in Rodaliesa mistake from the past that the current government seems not to want to repeat, if we stick to the Budgets.