Speed has been a major factor in the last two serious rail tragedies in Spain.
Was it correct that the Coruna driver had made some remarks on FB bragging about that sort of thing ?

I was on the Valencian Metro line at the point of the accident just a few days before it occurred and it is the only time I can recall seeing a whole carriage full of people so obviously frightened as even those with seats seemed to be desperately hanging on to anything they could.
I rode the same line today and it was as smooth as silk by comparison.

Document prove that savings in cost were made at the expense of safety.
News in Spanish
Safety measures taken in Spain, after the train crash, could confuse train drivers. Replacements will not be ready until next year.
News in Spanish.

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/01/16/...91_593000.html

It seems that yet more documentary evidence is being withheld/hidden that they were clearly warned of the danger and risks.

Despite everything else I have just looked at the price of a return trip Malaga to Santiago for early April.

AVE for the Malaga - Madrid section and Alvia for Madrid - Satiago

From €28.60 each way or €57.20 return.

Elitist!

No cheapskate

How could you do that journey any cheaper

It will cost me more to travel to malaga and back in the car with parking.

Hope you spare a thought for the hard-pressed British taxpayers who had no choice but to chip in for your Elitist travel.

That is great value for you but is it great value for Spain?

I see you are going from Malaga where the tram system has been shut down. Wouldn't it have been better for the tram to receive the subsidy rather than the AVE?
This is where I have difficulty with the AVE. Great in principle but a drain on subsidies that could and in my opinion should be used elsewhere to improve/extend local rail services.

It is Velez-Malaga (where I live) where the tram system has been suspended (although the Ayuntamiento and the Junta de Andalucia are in talks to get it re-started using smaller trams which the Alcalde claims will be cheaper to operate) - not Malaga, which has never had trams. The Metro system in Malaga is not far away from opening, 7,000 people took part in test runs a couple of weeks ago.

Oh right. The point I was making doesn't change.

The tram system here wasn't shut down for any lack of subsidy - quite the opposite. It was costing a fortune, with the deficit growing every year, and attracting only half the number of passengers needed to make it viable. Mind you, I always said that could have been different if the Ayuntamiento hadn't continued running the bus service along the same route, often leaving at the same time as the trams. It was pretty obvious there weren't enough people for both.

There have been large investments in other Spanish cities too in local transport over the last 10-15 years. Here in Madrid the metro system has expanded enormously and a light-rail system put down in parts - the cercanias has had a new station link extended to Sol. We've heard of stations that only get 8 passengers a day being closed, but that would surely have happened regardless of the high speed rail investment.

To put things into context, my nearest most convenient station is Algeciras, I can get there easily and quickly by bus.

However if I go onto the RENFE site I cannot purchase a ticket from Algeciras to Santiago. I have to purchase one to Madrid and then a second to Santiago, cheapest total €45.15 single.

However I then have to work out times and connections.

Whilst the Malaga to Santiago also involves changing stations in Madrid the information is all displayed on one page with train times showing ample interconnection time and a single ticket.

Yes and Malaga has a brand new metro system which cost tens of millions

How many cities in Spain have metro systems now? Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, Bilbao and Malaga. Any more?

Speaking of "elitist" transport systems, the Velez-Malaga tram was reported to be the most expensive form of public transport in the whole of Spain when it opened in 2006, at €1.30 flat fare no matter whether you travelled the whole of the 4.5km track (whole!) or just one stop. Before it opened the local bus fare on the same route was €0.95, which was increased to €1.30 also, and the locals were none too pleased about it.

There have been other improvements in transport infrastructure around Malaga besides the Metro in recent years. The Cercanias line to the airport was improved, a new and far better airport station built, and the frequency of trains on the Cercanias line as far as Fuengirola increased from half-hourly to every 20 minutes. There is now a daily train service direct from Malaga to Ronda (just one in either direction), supplementing what was already a pretty good bus service with two alternative routes.

There has been a wish for many years to have a coastal light railway to run from Estepona all the way to Nerja, but whilst it would be nice to have, I am sceptical about whether passenger numbers would be viable, and also find it had to see where it could go or the stations be built close enough to the towns to be of practical use to travellers.