1/- Spain now has nearly 2000 miles of high-speed rails, second only to China, but Spain’s independent fiscal authority now says that except for the major Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Sevilla lines, they are not worth the money spent on them, and...
economist.com/europe/2020/08…
economist.com/europe/2020/08…
2/- that Spain shouldn’t build more. It would be far better, they say “to invest in neglected commuter networks, which carry 89% of rail users”.
With a per capita GDP more than 3 times China’s reported per capita GDP, it is hard to believe that HSR is less economically...
With a per capita GDP more than 3 times China’s reported per capita GDP, it is hard to believe that HSR is less economically...
3/- viable in Spain than in China. The value of infrastructure, after all depends on the productivity of workers whose time it saves. Given the sheer amount of HSR in China – two-thirds of the global total, and rapidly building more – I would argue that either Spain (and the...
4/- rest of the world) is massively underestimating the economic value of HSR, or China overestimating it. HSR makes economic sense mainly for heavily-travelled lines between highly productive cities. Otherwise ordinary commuter trains probably make far more sense.
