Spaniards abandon planes for high-speed trains

A new fleet of high speed trains in Spain has stolen hundreds of thousands of passengers from the airlines, slashing the country’s carbon emissions.

Passenger numbers on domestic flights fell 20% in the twelve months to November, as passengers shunned cramped airline seats in favour of spacious, convenient, and fast trains.

Over the same period, high speed rail travel grew 28%, boosted by a 220mph line that zooms from Barcelona to Madrid just 2 hours 35 minutes.

New high speed lines have also been installed from Madrid to Valladolid, Segovia, and Malaga.

Experts say the drop in air travel marks the beginning of a transformation in Spaniards’ transport mode of choice.

With big cities in Spain often more than 300 miles apart, air travel has grown in popularity over the last decade.

A year ago, air travel accounted for 72% of Spain’s 4.8 million long distance passengers travelling by air or rail. Now, that figure has dropped to 60%.

Within two years, the numbers will be equal, predicts Josep Valis, professor at Barcelona’s ESADE business school.

The Spanish government aims to lay another 6,200 miles of high speed track by 2020, giving 90% of Spaniards nearby access to high speed rail services.