Page 14 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

SPECIAL

years of Spanish high speed rail

benchmark in the railway industry, developing
Some high speed figures hundreds of projects both within and beyond our
borders.
- Length of the network in service: 2,919,8
kilometres. 677 trains a day and 35.2 million
- Over 357.5 million passengers in 25 years. passengers in 2016
- 267 million passengers in AVE and Avant In parallel to the growth of the network built
services. by Adif, since 1992 there has been a spectacular
- 90 million passengers in variable gauge services. increase in the use of high speed in Spain, driven
by the commercial and service effort that Renfe has
- Investment in the development of the Spanish been making over these years.
high speed network to date: 51,775 million Since the entry into service of the Spanish
euros. high speed network, the development of this rail
- 26 provinces are already connected to the high transport model has achieved standards of comfort,
speed network, accounting for 57.9% of Spain’s quality, reliability and safety which, like the journey
total surface area. times possible today, were unthinkable a quarter of
a century ago. All of which ranks the Spanish railway
- High speed services cover 47 stations. system as one of the most advanced in Europe and
- 67.4% of the population of Spain have access to in the world today.
high speed trains in their province. Currently a daily average of 677 trains
circulate in the twenty-six provinces connected
- 2016 was a record year for high speed to the Spanish high speed network, and over 31
passengers: 35.2 million. million people are able to enjoy its benefits in the
- An average of 677 trains a day circulate on the province where they live. In 2016 Renfe’s high speed
network. services transported an all-time record number of
passengers; a total of 35.2 million users, 1.8 million
more than in 2015.
By April 21 a total of 357.5 million passengers
From its beginnings, Spanish high speed has will have used the Spanish high speed network since
been an exportable transport system in constant its inauguration. Of these, 267 million are users of
expansion. These last twenty-five years have also AVE and Avant services, and nearly 90 million are
generated a wealth of experience in technology and users of variable gauge services. Variable gauge
management. This has placed the Spanish railway enables passengers to use the two types of gauge
industry in the forefront of the world, thereby in Spain, without changing trains, and has brought
enhancing the competitiveness and prestige of the benefits of high speed travel to a large number
our companies abroad. In this last quarter century of medium-size towns.
Spanish companies have become an international

A Series 100 AVE train leaving
Puerta de Atocha station, Madrid.

GONZALO RUBIO

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