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Are the trains in Spain faster than the planes?

by Jeremy Kressmann (RSS feed) on Jan 30th 2009 at 10:00AM

If you've ever had a chance to travel around Europe, you're probably familiar with its various high-speed rail networks. In France, the TGV and AGV lines whisk passengers between Paris and points beyond including Brussels and Lyon at speeds over 200 miles per hour. And in Spain, the AVE rail system connects Madrid to Seville and as of 2008, to Barcelona as well.

According to a recent post at Wired, the new high speed link between Spain's two biggest cities has had a dramatic effect on the country's transportation network. In 2007, the airline route between Madrid and Barcelona was the busiest in the world, carrying over 70 percent of the passengers traveling between the two. Yet upon the opening of the new Barcelona rail line last year, that percentage has already dropped to 60 percent, and experts predict the number of plane and train passengers on the route will be equal within the next 2 years.

Aside from the obvious environmental benefits of traveling by rail instead of air, there's a significant convenience advantage as well. As heavy airplane traffic continues to choke airport runways worldwide, it's likely many of us will be turning to the railways for trips shorter than three hours. And when you think about it, by the time you've made it through TSA clearance, located your gate and fought for an overhead bin spot, your quick two hour plane trip has often turned into four or five. Here's hoping the U.S. continues to look into similar high-speed rail solutions like Acela. It's no AVE yet, but certainly a good first step.

[Via PSFK]

Filed under: Spain, Airlines, Transportation

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jeff Jan 30th 2009 10:31AM

I don't know if trains are faster than planes in Spain, but it's a lot cheaper. Last night I went from Granada to Valencia and that took 7 hours, but it was non-AVE. With the train, you don't have to worry (or maybe you do) about security, about paying extra for baggage (almost $200 for an extra bag on Iberia flights within Spain!), or (usually) about being delayed, which, to me, makes it the better choice.

Andrew Feb 2nd 2009 12:14AM

I use to do a lot of travel in the united kingdom. I always used the trains from London to Leeds and occasionally from London to Edinburgh as well. Door to door it was almost always quicker on the train... except when flooding closes the line :P