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America's Spanish High Speed Rail Envy

Posted by: Nate Berg

18 January 2010 - 6:00am

Spain has rapidly developed high speed rail system, leaving many U.S. politicians -- including President Obama -- wondering how the U.S. can catch up. This article and video from PBS looks at the Spanish model.

"When President Barack Obama introduced his high-speed rail plan last year, he pointed to Spain — not only as an example to follow, but also as a country America has fallen behind. 'In Spain, a high-speed line between Madrid and Seville is so successful that more people travel between those cities by rail than by car and airplane combined,' said the President, 'There’s no reason why we can’t do this. This is America. There’s no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders.'"

Spain has been able to build on that success, with more than 6,000 miles of additional high speed rail in the works over the next decade.

Full Story: [Web Video] Spain: The Next American System?
Source: PBS, January 15, 2010
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