2024 Volume 80 Issue 20 Article ID: 24-20094
High-speed rail development tends to be high cost and often decided by governments. Although the decisions have been made by comprehensively considering the country’s population, economy, land, politics, etc., each country has different priorities and ways of thinking about high-speed rail development. Those are different even in the same country at various ages. This research evaluates the chronological development level of high-speed rail in the world. The target countries are the countries that have 100km or more length of high-speed rail as of 2021. The usage of high-speed rail and conventional rail are also analyzed. The result shows that the development process of high-speed rail in Spain is unique. Although the development level of high-speed rail is the best among the target countries, the transport density of both passenger and freight rail is comparatively low. The considerations of the development backgrounds of high-speed rail in Spain are the following stories. First, high-speed rail development began as an opportunity for international events between core cities. After that, high public opinion became the driving force, and some lines with not so many populations were developed regardless of political ideology. One of the factors that realize the development is funds from the EU. The government of Spain has received at least 20% of the total project cost. The stories of Spain’s development suggest that high-speed rail is recognized as Social Common Capital and its development has been implemented based on political philosophy.
