I note the existing rail service carries 8% of passengers, while the private vehicle carries 23%. Given the poor nature of the existing rail service, the balance between these modes seems more weighted to rail than might be expected. The authors’ comments on this would be appreciated. Given the private vehicle carries a significant proportion of total passengers, has there been any estimate made of modal shift of private vehicle trips to the proposed rail service?
The improvement in the rail share (compared to air), as the journey time reduces from 2 h 32 min to 2 hr 15 min is significant. A reduction in travel time of 11% seems to be leading to an increase in rail passengers of 33%. However, there seems to be no induced or generated demand. Are the authors confident that the rail demand elasticity is reasonable, and that induced or generated demand can be ignored?
Will ‘before and after’ travel data be made available once the new service is in operation?
Author's reply
With regard to the figures indicated, 8% share of the railway market and 23% of the private vehicle market are the result of an in-depth survey conducted at the end of the last decade. In any case, it is necessary to bear in mind that the private vehicle's journey time (6 h) does not include the time it takes to reach the centre of both cities, which can vary between 30 and 45 min due to the existing traffic congestion. With the high-speed line, the private vehicle's market share would fall from 23% to 16%.
The experience obtained with the operation of the new Madrid–Seville line confirms that the induced demand (journeys that were not made before) is not sensitive to supplementary reductions in the journey time, once a high level of supply by the railway has been reached.
The authors hope to be able to publish the results actually obtained with the entry into service of the new Madrid–Barcelona line. To find out about the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of the Madrid–Seville high-speed line, you may consult reference 1.
