Territorial Implications of High-Speed Rail—A Spanish Perspective

Abstract

Regular commercial operation of passenger trains at maximum speeds significantly higher than long-standing traditional levels first began in 1964 in Japan between Tokyo and Osaka. This pioneering step was followed in 1981 by opening of the first high-speed rail (HSR) line in France between Paris and Lyon. Initially, top commercial speeds on these two lines were 210 km/h and 260 km/h, respectively. Later, they were raised on both to at or near 300 km/h, which is now typical for operation on lines purposely designed and built to provide HSR service.Operational success and customer acceptance of these striking innovations in surface passenger transport sparked the building of additional HSR lines in Japan and France, and inspired emulation elsewhere. Today, HSR lines of varying total length are in service in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Italy, and Spain.Viewed in terms of system length (leaving aside China), Spain has become a standout. In 2010, openings of additional lines made its HSR network the largest among HSR-situs countries in the European Union and the OECD. Spain's achievement has set in motion changes that pose a broad range of profoundly significant implications, not only for transport service providers and users (both passenger and freight), but also for land-use patterns, the economic and social vitality of communities, and public sector funding and resource allocation choices. Presentation of a broad understanding of these implications, primarily for Spain but with some comparative observations drawn from elsewhere, is the stated objective of this book. Most of the book's eleven chapters present information and analysis drawn from research conducted within several Spanish universities by scholars from five different disciplines (architecture, geography, urban and regional planning, transport engineering, and economics). Several key findings obtained from this broad-ranging collection of scholarly work, along with commentary on them, merit attention within the confines of the present review.Structure of high-speed passenger service offerings: The original intended objective of HSR implementation was movement of passengers exclusively between metropolises over distances of 500–700 km within two to three hours. However, pressures from smaller communities situated at intermediate points along HSR lines caused establishment of stations at such locations. To serve them adequately without requiring stops by long-haul trains that would compromise fulfillment of demand requirements for travel within the 500–700 km range, medium-distance (below 250 km) high-speed trains have been introduced where permitted by available track capacity. These shorter-haul trains offer a source of additional revenue contributory to coverage of the high costs of HSL construction and maintenance, provided that the additional revenue garnered exceeds all incremental costs incurred in obtaining it.HSR vis-à-vis freight transport: Implications for rail freight transport posed by HSR receive scant attention in the book. It is acknowledged that addition of freight movements where capacity permits could increase the net economic benefit obtainable from high-speed infrastructure investment (p. 239). How this might be accomplished without detriment to high-speed passenger service performance and freight-driven increments in HSL capital and maintenance costs is not, however, given attention. It is noted (p. 30) that large amounts of passenger traffic have shifted from conventional rail lines to new parallel high-speed track. Not noted is the potential collateral benefit that this shift poses in the form of increased capacity on conventional lines for accommodation of higher volumes of freight traffic on schedules driven primarily by freight transport requirements rather than by subordination to passenger service requirements (a common challenging condition on many conventional rail lines in Europe). Realization of this potential benefit would require that the additional income from increased freight traffic (plus such income as might still be generated by reduced-level passenger operations serving communities lacking access to the high-speed line) suffice to adequately maintain the conventional line.Transformational impacts: The book documents a complex of HSR-driven interrelated outcomes and conditions, including summarily (a) physical changes caused by the construction of HSR infrastructure and transfers of land-use between rail and non-rail uses; (b) shifts in mobility patterns for business and personal travel; (c) changes in land-use patterns and land values; and (d) impacts of changes in mobility patterns on the broader spatial and socioeconomic characteristics of communities and territories that have gained direct access to HSR service, and for those that have not.Material presented on the economic assessment of high-speed rail in Spain reveals that most high-speed lines in either Spain or elsewhere have not yet reached demand/use levels sufficient to yield a positive rate of return as calculated by cost-benefit and input-output analytical methods that encompass not only revenue from users but also other types of benefits (e.g., time savings, safety and security, trips taken that would not have been possible without HSR, and energy and environmental sustainability). Investment in HSR has been driven largely by political will and public sector financing rather than by hard analytical evidence. The final chapter in the book concludes with the observation that the economic viability of a public investment is normally evaluated within the framework of a life-cycle of about 25 years, whereas the real life-cycle of a new transportation network such as HSR and the time required for obtainment of at least some of the benefits that it ultimately generates “is much longer than a few decades” (p. 250).Overall, the book very ably fulfills its stated objectives, analytically and with highly readable and well-structured coverage of subject matter. Its usefulness appears greatest for professionals in the academic and applied fields of geography, urban and regional planning, transportation systems planning, and transport policy analysis. The book's contents are not likely to be of prime immediate interest among professionals focused on freight transport, logistics, and supply chain management. However, several chapters provide perspectives on conditions that can and do exert direct and indirect influence on the cost, quality, and demand for movement of freight, both in Spain and elsewhere around the globe. Freight service planners and operators beware!

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