WHO ELSE WANTS AVE?

The definition of the design for the high speed line between Madrid and Valencia is starting to be a sad spectacle. Is rightful that from different representative resorts would be tried that an infrastructure with as important be favoured the own interests. Indeed, would be stupid to think that this wouldn't be happen. But all have a limit; more when the caution and the pulling out of the bag of alternative designs start to conspire against the own logic of the line.

Would be horrible that in the first years of the XXI century would be repeated the despotings that affected to the railway designs of the XIX century. We live in a country where with excessive frequency the design of the public attends to local interests, when not only privates, to the detriment of the generals.

The time of polictics pressures and the bringing off in the high speed designs was inaugurated when, against the logic, Jordi Pujol obtained that Madrid-Barcelone line would be altered to cross Tarragona. With that, the travellers between Barcelone and Madrid will be benefited with 10 or 15 minutes more of journey, but Catalonia wins a vertebrated high speed line.

We can argue that this time is few, but it isn't true; it is in the parameters of the convencional train, but it isn't in the high speed trains, which must compete with the plane and not only now, but during decades. We can't forget that the railway infrastructure is into the oldest and most expensive in changing.

A lot of much logical would have been include Tarragona in the vertebrated high speed line in Catalonia(which had just guaranteed in its other three capitals without unimpaired anyone) when would be done the probable development of the high speed connection between Barcelone and Valencia, for the moment -in fact- reasonably well done in high speed with the Euromed. That must have been the most reasonable, but .... it wasn't a public success with which can obtain votes in Catalonia.

But if the caused damage in Madrid-Barcelone line was into the acceptacle, the perspectives in Madrid-Valencia line start to be alarming. The dancing of the local important people has carried to an increase of the options and the exacerbation of the stupid aspirations. We have to say that, by a simple interests division, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon has it easy for defending reasonable positions and closed to the spanish people interest, in front of Eduardo Zaplana has it more difficult, but to Jose Bono is an impossible work, only if doesn't want to content others... The result is that is started to forget which is in the project of the high speed line Madrid-Valencia and isn't the railway structure in Castilla-La Mancha. The danger is that, between this caution, would be finished to obtain anything of the two things.

The high speed line Madrid-Valencia should be that. A high speed line (it's to say, not fewer of 300 km/h) and destined to connect in the best form those two cities. If anyone else is benefited, better. But it isn't an element for solutioning other problems, and less to atend unreasonable positions of "coffee with milk for everyone" to the detriment of the central logic of the infrastructure, which is to carry passangers from Madrid to Valencia in the fewest time possible.