More "wiggling"
Changes were made to the safety systems were done without any assessment, according to the insurer of RENFE.

Well it's good to see something positive here.

The long foretold Rodalies (Catalan for Cercanias) local rail service around the Tarragona region finally opens for business today with two new services, one between Tarragona and neighbouring Reus (more below) and along the coast between l'Arboç and Cambrils.

Furthermore, there is a plan to integrate the several local bus services that operate in the region, another step into converting the Camp de Tarragona into a very large integral urban union, complete with integrated tickets, and not before time too.

It has to be said that one of the blocks to this idea has been the ancestral rivalry between the two cities, that are as different as, say Liverpool and Manchester, but 'separated' by just 11 kilometres distance. This is no small matter and the numerous and ongoing political spats must have caused incalculable economic damage to the area: for instance there is no direct bus service to Reus airport from either Tarragona or, more importantly perhaps, to the important tourist resorts of Salou and Cambrils and of course the Reus licensed taxis extort a heavy surcharge for leaving the city limits.

The other example is the ridiculous location of the so-called 'Camp de Tarragona' AVE station, which is in the middle of nowhere - when it opened the village in whose territory is located only had two taxi licenses.

If ever the Corredor del Mediterrani coastal line gets built this will imrove a bit with an interchange station adjascent to Reus airport - on the Tarragona side of the runways even though the air terminal is on the Reus side! - But you'll still have to get to Camp de Tarragona station to catch a train to Madrid!

On a darker note, see Caso Sanato Estevo's contributions above - I recall reading (but I don't remember where) that the deadly sharp bend was installed on the Santiago line as the powers-that-be there didn't want a repeat of the Camp de Tarragona fiasco!

Meanwhile, I hope to be off to Reus tomorrow on the new train to meet a 'fan' - a Spanish motorcyclist returning home to Reus from Switzerland for the week - he's been reading my blog and comments on various biking forums and said, extremely flatteringly, that I am "Paul Preston on two wheels" - fame at last

Regs

Simon

Want to buy a train set?

Only if it's this one



Regs

Simon

New zones "de silencioso" for AVE trains. But this means only the non use of mobiles.
News in Spanish.

What is the point of all these links you are spamming?

What AVE are proposing is exactly what the trains do in London, they also have coaches where the use of mobiles isnt allowed

Quite right too, give me the quiet carriage every time.

Well I find the links useful, . There's so much misinformation on various forums that it's refreshing to find one that has 'references' to the source of the info. So "thanks" Casa Santo E

Meanwhile, if they could ban headsets and endless, meaningless and usually one-sided 'conversations' then we'd really be talking - sometime I wish I was in Japan!

Regs

Simon

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/p...d-traffic.html

Quite agree, there are obviously those who prefer to sweep everything under the carpet and simply heap all the blame on one person, as it appears occurred after the Valencia Metro disaster.

As with aircraft disasters, such incidents are rarely as simple as first appears to be the case.

That last links seems to be recycled news*, to me. A sort of political spin going on. I wonder how long this can be done?


*On the 8th March I posted a Spanish link about the high speed trains competing with (taking away passengers from) airports.
You posted a link in English on the 13th March with similar news.

An extra two point 9 million passengers seemed like news to me. Apologies if it's already been stated, but we've had literally scores of posts claiming that the high speed trains are nearly empty. Time surely to redress the balance with some facts surely?
Of course it's always possible the doomsters may claim that the numbers will fall this year? I hope they do openly state this, so we can see who is right? I suspect they won't have the nerve, but they'll still keep carping from the sidelines.

Hi, I take your point about the repetition, but this is always going to happen as news passes into the specialist press at a slower rate than the daily newspapers. And it's inevitable on an English language based forum that many readers will seek a reliable source of translated news.

Regarding the 'political spin', are you saying that this is in the article? Apart from being a bit 'good-news'-ish I can't see anything in the text that suggests anything other than the press release blurb. Well, there's certain to be an element of spin there but it's not as if anything isn't 'true' therein - as opposed to reports about crashes which usually do contain disinformation if not outright lies - remember that the Brits are used to this ever since our own rail privatisation disaster

Regs

Simon
PS Dick, shouldn't your 'surname' be spelt "Dastardleigh" then you could have a remote rural railway named after your ancestral pile

No apologies needed as I said it just seems to me "political" spin from the railways. I am weary of spin.

The full picture/balanced on this story has never been written about. Things like raising airport taxes and the world cost of fuel has not helped the airline industry.
Have the slower trains gained anything at all?
What is being done to improve slower or the "local" trains. Nothing at all, is my guess. Where are they taking the money from to give "us" lower fares?
Also the devastation to the environment, when train lines are constructed, is never written about.

There are 2 sides to every story.

Hi,

Like most things there are several sides to any story and I think a lot of these issues like rail vs. air travel and the environmental impact of HST lines do get a lot of time on the environmentalist forums.

Regarding some of the points made both above and over the last week or two (in no particular order):

OK, the AVE lines have had a lot of subsidy, but then so do the airports, traffic control, etc. that are the 'infrastructure' that the airlines use for a price that they can negotiate - especially Rynannair, who get paid to land at some destinations!

At the end of the day the railways have to buy their fuel, i.e. electricity potential and of course diesel fuel. But unless things have changed aviation fuel, actually just kerosine, is tax free by global agreement - hardly a level playing field there!

I agree that not enough attention is given to the environmental impact of HST lines, especially the earlier ones here in Spain. But I think to an extent that is rectified now, unless you happen to live nearby but there is also the issue of the spread of High Tension electricity supply that is equally or even more devastating - just look up "MAT Girona" on Google! Electricity is far from a 'clean' source of energy after all - including f***ing solar and wind power!

I think a big tragedy is the loss of the conventional long haul trains in Spain, which were really good value - if you were't in a hurry. I'm not sure if there's a pressure group or NGO dedicated t this issue, but here in Catalonia you see a lot of graffiti talking about a 'two tier' transport system that favours 'Los Ricos' and I have to say they've got a point.

Certainly the biggest scandal is the endless delay in completing the Corredor Mediterraneo. This is so obviously a political thing that is paralysing a huge part of the Spanish economy, talk about cutting your nose off despite your face! What also amazes me is the toothlessness of the European Commission in pushing this forward, after all they're paying for it!

Regs

Simon