The first fatal high-speed rail accident in Spain has shaken one of the most solid narratives of recent decades: that of the success of the Spanish rail model. Despite the uncertainties that remain, it seems possible to establish a causal link between the accident and the state of the infrastructure, which places an unavoidable question at the centre of the debate: perhaps the railway system, especially high-speed rail, has been the victim of a sustained deficit in investment and, above all, maintenance, which has its roots in a process that began with the financial crisis following the bursting of the property bubble. The cuts implemented at that time did not have an immediate impact on the service, but they did have a delayed effect that is now coming to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The data speaks for itself. The year 2009 marked the peak of railway investment with \u20ac10.913 billion, and from then on, a trend of continuous growth that had begun decades earlier was broken for the first time. Investment entered a phase of deep contraction and did not recover a stable trajectory until 2021. It is not until 2023 that there is a significant jump, almost doubling the previous year’s investment. It is true that the 2024 budget, with \u20ac4.321 billion earmarked for railway investment, is almost double that of 2019, but this recovery comes late and, above all, does not compensate for the wear and tear accumulated over more than a decade, nor the exponential increase in the use of the network. In addition, there is a structural problem of transparency, as public data does not allow us to distinguish precisely how much of the investment is allocated to new infrastructure, how much to track maintenance and how much to specific projects such as the refurbishment of large stations, which absorb a very significant part of the resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In parallel with this process of disinvestment in maintenance, Spain has developed one of Europe’s most ambitious high-speed rail projects. With more than 4,000 kilometres, it is the second largest network in the world, behind only China, and far exceeds those of France, Germany, and Italy. Between 1995 and 2017, investment was 42% higher than in France, almost double that of Germany, and 60% higher than Italy. This expansion is the result of a strategic decision aimed at compensating for historical infrastructure deficits and strengthening territorial cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this model has obvious imbalances. Spain has been by far the country that has invested the most in transport infrastructure among the five major European economies in recent decades, but it continues to lag significantly behind in rail freight transport, which barely reaches 4%. Added to this is a radial design that has reinforced the economic role of Madrid, while leaving key corridors such as the Mediterranean, the Atlantic axis, and the Basque Y unfinished. Significantly, Portugal, after studying the Spanish model, has decided to give priority to the Lisbon-Porto axis before connecting with Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The financial crisis of 2008\u20132011 interrupted the investment momentum. Once it was over, priorities shifted from strengthening the maintenance of the system to liberalising it. With the entry of foreign operators such as Ouigo and Iryo from 2021 onwards, Spain has become the European country most open to rail competition. Passenger traffic has grown by almost 197% and investment by 102%. However, this growth has been deeply asymmetrical: the length of the network has increased by 52%, while spending on maintenance has only increased by 34%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the investigation confirms the deficiencies found in the first instance in the anomaly detection systems and maintenance tasks, a complicated debate will ensue: more public investment in maintenance or higher fees (Ouigo and Iryo currently pay \u20ac600 million for network maintenance), or both at the same time. Looking ahead, it does not seem easy to reconcile an extensive and costly network to maintain, high safety standards and cheap tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If high-speed rail is showing cracks, the commuter rail network is the most obvious symptom of the crisis in railway infrastructure, with a highly vulnerable network, especially in the face of adverse weather conditions, which coexists with ongoing construction work, difficulties in institutional coordination, and latent labour disputes. Various actors are involved in the commuter rail network, and their relationship has not always been easy: Adif is responsible for the infrastructure (tracks, catenaries, signalling, etc.), Renfe is responsible for the trains, and the Government of Catalonia is the owner of the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The collapse of an AP-7 motorway wall onto a train in Gelida, which caused one death and dozens of injuries, has highlighted the extent to which the system has suffered from decades of disinvestment. The Catalonia Commuter Rail plans have had negligible levels of implementation: only 15% of the 2008-2015 plan has been implemented and so far, only 35% of the 2020-2030 plan has been realised. The social and economic impact of the suspension of traffic on essential lines such as the R1 and R2 South, two lines with a large volume of users, is also a concern, as it is difficult to implement an alternative transport plan to provide them with service, and the current state of traffic makes it difficult for goods from the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona to be transported to the French border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The collapse of the railway system has become a mirror of the broader crisis of the welfare state and has far-reaching political and social consequences: remember that the first major demonstration against the deterioration of infrastructure, in 2007, marked the beginning of unrest that persists today. Transport infrastructure, one of the fundamental pillars of the model, is showing signs of fatigue, as are healthcare, education, and access to housing. This deterioration is fuelling the weariness of the middle classes, who pay more taxes but increasingly resort to private services, use public transport less, pay for private health insurance and do not make much use of the public health system. At the same time, there is growing frustration among workers who are suffering from the deterioration of basic services such as transport, healthcare, and education, whether basic, vocational, or even university education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Added to all this are economic difficulties, especially, but not only, among young people, resulting from a combination of low wages and skyrocketing housing prices. As the current railway crisis shows, pressure on the state to protect the sectors hardest hit by a globalised economy that is leaving more and more people outside its safety net is compounded by its own dysfunctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accidents, incidents, and warnings from professionals in the sector are not simply technical incidents. They are part of a climate of widespread fatigue, a growing feeling that the model that for decades guaranteed quality of life and social cohesion is beginning to show its limits. Citizens also speak, feel and judge. And when infrastructure fails, the message conveyed is devastating: that the state is no longer capable of delivering on its promises. The railway crisis is therefore not an isolated incident, but a warning of the need to rethink priorities, investments and, ultimately, the future of the welfare state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photography: Adamuz railway accident. Public domain. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first fatal high-speed rail accident in Spain has shaken one of the most solid narratives of recent decades: that of the success of the Spanish rail model. Despite the uncertainties that remain, it seems possible to establish a causal link between the accident and the state of the infrastructure, which places an unavoidable question at the centre of the debate: perhaps the railway system, especially high-speed rail, has been the victim of a sustained deficit in investment and, above all, maintenance, which has its roots in a process that began with the financial crisis following the bursting of the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":83013,"template":"","category_newspaper":[679],"segment":[],"subject":[],"class_list":["post-83028","newspaper","type-newspaper","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category_newspaper-679"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n