SPAIN's FAST TRAINS

During my research visit to Spain, I used one of their fast trains from Barcelona to Malaga and was surprised by averages of over 300 kilometers per hour ! You can not actually judge the speed in the passenger coach by looking through the window because inside it is sound proof, comfortable, stylishly furnished and well air conditioned. However, on the digital speedometer one realises the real traveling speed. It took us within five hours to travel a distance of plus minus 900kilometers ! Traveling this way was easier and more cost effective than all the schlep to get to the airport et cetera. And because of my senior age (and looks), I purchased a ticket for senior travelers which was also very cost effective.

Being a railway child who grew up next to the railway tracks and traveled regularly on vacations, this train impressed me very much. My father, an ex-locomotive driver on steam engines used to tell me about the tremendous power of steam engines, but he could not speed on the narrow railway lines of the former South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H). However, comparing trains in Europe and South Africa today, it is a real pity that the SA Government neglected the updating of the South African rail transport infrastructure and network. Especially to forestall the increasingly dangerous traffic situation on the South African roads. It becomes evident that the roads were not designed to carry such a huge number of users everyday. The dangerous potholes are evident that the provinccial and national government budgets and maintanace are falling apart. The solution will be to start developng a modern railway infrastructure.