Adif Gets Spain Up to Speed

In this article, the author interviews Antonio Gonzalez Marin, the president of Spain's state-owned railroad track authority, Adif, about the track authority's plans for the next few years. Since being set up in 2005, Adif has invested more than 17 billion Euro in the rail network. Mr. Marin describes how they are studying ways of increasing the public-private investment in the development of the high-speed rail network, the impact that open-access operators are having on the Spanish rail network, and the need for more paths for additional trains, which results in increased track maintenance costs. Adif is continuing to build new high-speed lines, both to boost the Spanish economy and to bring the rail network to a point of financial viability. The author also considers the ongoing role of conventional rail lines, for regional, overnight, and freight trains. The article concludes with a discussion of how national and regional government collaborations have been crucial to the extensive high-speed rail construction that is now underway across Spain.