Probably because it was Singapore

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16789111

This is a problem for all countries and has been for many years.

1. Labour gets outsourced to cheaper countries
2. Registering offshore means the company pays minimal tax in home country

However, the whole philosophy of liberal capitalism i.e. the model we currently live by, is that the money should be kept by the private companies to be reinvested in the company and the wider economy - not given to the government in the form of taxes or to employees in the form of higher wages

i.e. this is good news for Spain as long as Talgo etc are HQd in Spain, because they will want to grow and hire other Spanish companies to help with their growth

And the Talgo Directors and Managers will be getting richer and so spreading their wealth through consumption. They may even hire a butler or a pool cleaner etc

Btw, I dont agree with this model on principle, but this is what its supporters advocate

well all I can say is Whoopee For This Forum
they are retired, living the dream, hiding, trying to run their own business instead of minding it.

RR wouldnt have got the business if they hadnt agreed to do some of the work in India, where they don't have the capability to make from scratch aircraft approved components from scratch but they do have the capability to put components together and test.

would the same be said if GE were to have won the contract under the same constraints ??

I don't agree with this model either, and I have some experience in it.
The Indian company will be used to make some profit but after managment charges back this will probably not be huge.
It moves jobs out of Europe into the Indian sub-continent for a few years, expectancy is encouraged - but eventually it is moved on to other places that are cheaper. The Philipines are currently the new target for a number of Internationals.

but the Japanese know how to write contracts to keep the majority of work in their own country

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ion-order.html

I have to admit to being very puzzled by that order. The trains may be capable of 225mph speeds, but they won't be driven at more than 125mph because the UK does not have high speed lines, and won't do before 2030. Huh?

perhaps we should "buy in the technology" ?

ooopppss so many here can remember the days of the first trains and how successful they were - with a man + red flag walking in front to ensure everyone knew they were coming and the passengers didnt exceed the speed (4mph? ?) where they would be killed by the speed.

if we are going to spend £6bn on a new train line they why the *&^% arent they building it to meet the higher speeds.

OK the Japanese contract will be for new rolling stock used on existing lines, but surely we are going back to the man with a red flag !!

Laughing stock ? Out there on the sidings we call it rolling stock - no difference. Specified by users, approved by committee, built by robots.
No one has a clue really. Just can't understand why they are the comedians of the railway world

I couldn't give a toss about high speed trains. My concern is that the smaller branch lines stay open and that was the concern of most spaniards too. Those high speed trains haven't done much for Spain have they...they are losing money.

If you take the view that various rail contracts won in the last few years (and Spain are bidding for a few more this summer) have absolutely nothing to do with Spanish investment in its rail infrastructure, then J2 may have a point. But I wonder why France and Spain were able to bid for the Saudi high speed rail project, and the UK wasn't?

Horses for courses...there are many contracts the British have won and the spanish would not be in a position to bid for them.

Announcement that the AVE link to Castellon will arrive in 2015, and confirmation that the Alicante link will be up-and-running in just a few months. (Article in Spanish)

http://www.hosteltur.com/166900_ave-...alenciano.html

The article also states that the first phase of the Mediterranean Corridor will be placed between Alicante and the border with France. However I wonder if the funds for this will be forthcoming if Catalunya decides to leave Spain (and doesn't get automatic re-entry into the EU)?

The UK seems to have done quite well with the backroom jobs in SA. Herbert Smith did the legal advising and Invensys Rail has a 485m € contract. Renfe are welcome to be taking on the operating for the next few years - I suspect they might have bitten off more than they can chew.

According to this report (in Spanish) the last part of the high speed link to France from Barcelona will open up in March.
I wouldn't bank on March, as Easter falls early in 2013 and is in March- they may delay the inauguration until April. But it will make a big difference to passenger numbers on the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona route (which is already carrying millions)

http://ave-renfe.edreams.es/general/...l-ano-proximo/

may I suggest that anything agreed will be carried over
can't let a UDI get in the way of a good project

The vast sums Spain has spent on the AVE would have been much better spent on developing/expanding regional services.
I have a house in Oliva and the whole of that region from Alicante to Valencia is under-served by rail. Relatively inexpensive options of extending existing services such as linking Denia with Gandia have been ignored. I suspect that also applies to other regions.
To me it just does not make sense.

Agreed. We have the ludicrous situation in not having a station in Estepa. The line runs around the back of the town through Perdera to Osuna. Building a chord along the side of the A92 would be relatively minimal cost and feed the town, which now only has 1 bus a day from Malaga........ But would it get the same headlines as the AVE? I think not!