WSJ article on high speed rail in Spain

In today's Wall Street Journal, there is an article about the AVE system in Spain, which is the high speed rail system. It discusses the recent success of the train lines and how the most recent line, Madrid to Barcelona, has with in a year, captured more than fifty percent of the travel between the two cities (the fifty going to cars and airplanes).

Also mentioned is how President Obama has made comparisons of the US to Spain. Spain has recently made a huge investment in high speed rail to try and surpass France and Germany, and at the pace they are going they will. Another country that is trying to become a world leader in high speed rail is China, which is looking to surpass Japan.

The article is one of a few articles I have read that don't discount high speed rail as a "train enthusiast fantasy" that will cost too much. The WSJ writer Thomas Catan does a good job of describing the problems and successes of high speed rail in Spain.

I believe that in order to get a real high speed rail system (none of this 110 mph stuff, but 200 mph) an investment on the order of $100 billion is needed. Unfortunately, that will probably not happen soon as some people still think that trains are just a waste of money (Sen. McCain I'm talking to you).

Picture from the article:

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images