9 Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Transport Performance of the High Speed Rail in Spain in the Context of the New Regulation Framework. Evidence from the Madrid-seville Hsr Corridor

The ambitious planned development of the high-speed rail (HSR) network in Spain requires the implementation of new sector regulations to fully achieve its objectives, namely to make the sector more competitive and to promote a more balanced and efficient transport system. For this purpose, the Spanish administration recently launched the new Rail Sector Act (39/2003), on a national regulatory framework. The planned liberalisation process foresees the end of the monopoly of the Spanish state operator RENFE, opening up passenger transport to new rail operators by 2010. On a European level, this new regulatory framework comes in line with EU’s concerns both on transport service performance and on infrastructure development. On the one hand, European regulations have focused in measures to guarantee quality of service, equal access and effective competition market rules. On the other, the relevance of the development of HSR projects in the Iberian peninsula is proved with their inclusion among the priority projects of the trans-European networks (TEN). 2 Insert book title here In this context, we investigated the performance of the HSR line Madrid-Seville during its almost twelve years of operation. This case study constitutes a successful experience of the implementation of a transport infrastructure policy, resulting in a modal shift from air transport. We searched for the key factors and driving forces underlying this success, and to which extent the evidence from this case study could be valuable for other planned HSR developments in Spain.