Page 518 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Ortega, Alejandro. Almujibah, Hamad. Preston, John.

4. A comparison between countries: geography, economy, legal framework and
transport

This section is split into four subsections. The first one offers a comparison between the
two countries in terms of the geography and distances between main cities. The second one
replicates the same comparison but for the economy of both countries. The third subsection
explains the institutional, legal and procurement framework in Spain and Saudi Arabia. The last
subsection shows the transport evolution of Spain since the HSR entered into operation and the
interurban transport system in Saudi Arabia.
4.1 Geography

Spain is located in Southwestern Europe, has a population of roughly 47 million people, an
increase from 39 million inhabitants in 1992. Despite this, the density is only 92 inhabitants
per square km which is quite low compared to other European countries. The majority of the
population is sparsely distributed except for two areas: Madrid located in the centre of Spain
and along the coast. Moreover, Madrid is 700 metres above sea level, whilst the remaining major
cities are at sea level. That makes the profile of the HSR lines more difficult than other European
countries where there is no need to serve this natural level difference. Figure 1 provides the
HSR network by the end of 2016. The distance between the most important metropolitan areas
in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao) is between 400 and 700km, which is
believed to be a good distance for the development of HS. That is, lower distances do not justify
HSR because of the completion with car, whereas larger distance are very difficult because of
the competition with airplanes. Rothengatter (2011) noted that strong competition between
air transport and HSR can occur on routes with distance up to 1,000 km, but this is most likely
between 400 and 800 km. Therefore the main transport networks (highway and conventional
rail networks) have a radial typology, with the centre on the country’s capital, Madrid. The HSR
network follows the same structure, linking Madrid with the most populated cities (Barcelona,
Valencia and Seville).
Figure 1. Spanish HSR network by 2016

Source: Figure courtesy of Adif, 2016.

516 360.revista de alta velocidad