It's no secret that US passenger rail hasn't kept up with the rest of the developed world. We've focused instead on the national highway system, doubling down on car infrastructure and parking everywhere, and also on shorts flights. Nations like Japan and France have long gone a different route, building out high speed rail networks to get climateunfriendly cars off the road and planes out of the air.

More recently, China has rapidly grown its high speed rail network to become by far the largest in the world. But today we're talking about Spain, which has (quietly?) built the world's second largest HSR network, in a nation of just 47 million people.

This video explores the user experience of Spain's Alta Velocidad Espanola, continuing expansion of the AVE (including new providers Ouigo and Iryo), and what the US can learn (but probably won't) from a high speed rail system that's often criticized as overly politicized and overbuilt.



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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:
Expanding the Acela Corridor:    • U.S. High Speed Rail: What's Next? An...  



Resources:
https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/depart...
https://www.gobrightline.com/orlando
https://www.timeout.com/news/youcan...
https://www.thelocal.es/20230313/the...



Images
Spain High Speed Rail map By HrAd Own work, CC BYSA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Silver Meteor By Seaboarder3023 Own work, CC BYSA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Amtrak Crescent By railfan 44 https://www.flickr.com/photos/1296793..., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Amtrak Sunset Limited By Extra Zebra Flickr: Amtrak, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Amtrak Capitol Limited By jpmueller99 from Shenandoah Valley of VA, USA Amtrak #30 on the Magnolia Cutoff, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
US Population Density Map By JimIrwin, CC BYSA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Amtrak Thumb By User:DanielHolth Own work, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...



Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)



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