I don’t know what Sigmund Freud would have said about this, but I love trains and ferry boats. Every chance I get to ride one or the other, I take it. In the course of a conversation with Sigmund he would have discovered that one of my earliest transportation memories as a child was being taken on excursions to Boston by way of a narrow gauge train and ferry boat. So, on a recent trip to Spain, I naturally looked forward to a ride on the high-speed rail connection between Madrid and Seville.

This is a very new line finished in 1992. It was constructed in time to carry expected large numbers of people to Seville to visit the International Exposition commemorating the 500 th anniversary of the first voyage of Columbus. It is a true high-speed line akin to the Japanese Bullet Train, the French TGV, the Italian SAV, and German Intercity Express lines. What do all these trains have in common? They are electrically powered and run at speeds of about 150 miles per hour, usually over newly constructed or modified roadbeds. Never having ridden one of these fast trains, I was curious about how it would feel to be moving at such speeds across the earth’s surface.

We had returned from a tour of southern Spain earlier in the week so we didn’t want to ride the whole 297 miles to Seville on the AVE, as the high-speed train is called. We simply wanted to take a ride and savor the experience. A visit to a RENFE (Spanish National Railways) office in downtown Madrid took care of tickets for the next day. We bought two round trips to Ciudad Real about 100 miles south of Madrid. Our off peak round trips, down and back on the same day, cost a bit over $50 U.S. for the two of us: a bargain, in my mind.

There are only five stations on the line: Atocha in Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Cordoba, and Santa Justa in Seville. These were either rebuilt existing stations or newly constructed ones. The station at Ciudad Real was roomy and bright and appeared to be brand new. On our arrival we had paella and red wine for lunch in the pleasant station restaurant and just enough time for a little walk outside before catching our scheduled return train.

Right on time the train pulled into the station and we went to our assigned seats. We were in a tourist class car in which each row had two chairs side by side next to the aisle. On the other side of the aisle was a single chair, and that pattern was repeated throughout our car. The chairs were almost like first class airline seating: very comfortable and roomy. There are also some Club and Preferente spaces on each train and these are the equivalents of first and business classes on airliners. Each train carries a total of 321 passengers and consists of eight passenger cars with a locomotive at each end. This being a Spanish train, there is a bar selling drinks and snacks, of course.

Just as when we left the Atocha station in Madrid, the train started very smoothly with no sudden jerking movements. Very quickly we were we were up to speed and literally flying across the landscape. The sensation of speed was strongest when looking out the window close to the train’s roadbed, but less so when looking toward the horizon. Another striking difference with regular trains was the absence of sound; the usual clickety clack of wheels passing over joints between rails was not heard because the rails are welded. The electric motors driving the train were also quiet and smooth.

Safety was something I thought about before taking the train. Sudden stops at 150 miles per hour could send passengers flying around inside the cars. To keep animals and people off the tracks, the roadbed is fenced on both sides for the entire 297 miles between Madrid and Seville. Another safety feature is the complete absence of level crossings. All road traffic crosses this rail line on either overpasses or underpasses.

In addition to speed and comfort the AVE offers a promise of punctuality. On every AVE timetable there is a statement that guarantees the purchase price of the rider’s ticket to be refunded if the train is later than five minutes. When the line first started in 1992, before all the bugs were overcome, it was fairly common that refunds were made to whole trainloads of passengers. One doesn’t usually associate this degree of punctuality with Spain and its inhabitants, but the refund policy served to impose a tough discipline on the workers and management of the AVE trains.

Some will be sorry to see the old relaxed attitudes of Spaniards fading away. They will, no doubt, trace the new approach to Spain’s entry into the European Economic Community in 1986. Perhaps that is so, but Spain was cut off from Europe and the rest of the world starting with its civil war in the 1930’s and extending well into the post World War II period. Now Spain is taking its rightful place in Europe and the AVE is just one way in which they are demonstrating this. The Madrid - Seville high-speed line was constructed at the standard European track gauge, which is a little over nine inches narrower than the standard Spanish gauge. No other existing Spanish trains can use the tracks of the AVE line, but the line itself will one day be linked to other European high-speed lines.

For the time being, Madrid and Seville are the only major cities connected by the high speed AVE trains. Plans are in the works to connect Madrid and Barcelona, Spain’s second city in the northeast, with a high-speed link. From Barcelona it is a short run to the French border and the developing high speed (TGV) system in that country. When this link up occurs early in the 21’st century, it will be possible to board a train in London, enter France by way of the Channel Tunnel, zip down to southern France and enter Spain near Barcelona, getting off in Seville. In time there will also be connections with the German and Italian high-speed systems. Travelers will enjoy a level of comfort exceeding all but first class air travel and without the problems of getting to and from crowded airports.