This paper indicates that Spain and France are countries in which long distance passenger mobility seems to require an extensive high-speed network due to two reasons: travel distances of the main mobility flows are appropriate for the high-speed train, and the largest urban areas have a central position. On the contrary, in Germany, distances of the main mobility flows are shorter, average values being in the range of distances that are more favourable for the use of private car.

 

On the other hand, this paper shows that the core radial structure of Spanish high-speed network makes all the sense from a transport efficiency point of view, since it is suitable for the main passenger traffic flows. In effect, out of the 32 long distance routes between non-bordering provinces which have an annual traffic of over 1.7 million passengers, 26 run through Madrid and almost the totality of them can be directed in the most natural way through a radial network complemented by the Mediterranean Corridor.