Happening Now

Spain welcomes Paris-Barcelona TGV, auctions off new “ghost airport”

December 11, 2013

Written By Ross Capon

Yet another important new high-speed rail service will begin Sunday, December 15. Twice-daily Paris-Barcelona through-trains will end a long history of changing trains at the international border. The running time will be six hours 25 minutes. The Financial Times reported that travelers starting from London St. Pancras will be able to leave at 9:31 AM and reach Barcelona within 10 hours 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, Spain is auctioning off a new-but-disused airport at Ciudad Real. Here’s the beginning of the Financial Times’ report:

For sale: airport in provincial Spain, good as new, with 4km runway and passenger terminal built for 10m travellers a year; includes visitor centre, vast industrial park and 50m control tower. Good motorway access and ample parking. Asking price: €100m.

The report calls the “infamous ghost airport” one of the ultimate symbols of Spain’s real estate bubble. This auction, viewed together with the TGV expansion, also arguably symbolizes a positive trend in Europe towards energy-efficient train travel.

Photo from deconcrete

Comments

"The National Association of Railroad Passengers has done yeoman work over the years and in fact if it weren’t for NARP, I'd be surprised if Amtrak were still in possession of as a large a network as they have. So they've done good work, they're very good on the factual case."

Robert Gallamore, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University and former Federal Railroad Administration official, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University
November 17, 2005, on The Leonard Lopate Show (with guest host Chris Bannon), WNYC New York.