The intercity mobility in the high speed line Madrid-Seville: defining features after ten years of its implementation

The success of the high speed train, in growing competition with other means of transport (especially the aeroplane and the car), has changed some of the standards of inter-city mobility between the principal cities on its route. The end of the first ten years of operation of the "AVE" high speed train Madrid-Seville is a good moment for a reflection on the impact that the high speed train has made on the growing demands of mobility in the post-industrial society of our country. The result of the analysis demonstrates a persistent increase in the number of travellers who use this means of transport, and growing satisfaction of the necessities of movement: professional, work-related, family-related, tourist, etc.; which have an ever more profuse effect on social collectives of varied and contrasting socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.