History of rail transport in Spain

[8] One key development was the decision, taken at an early stage, that Spain's railways should be built to an unusual broad track gauge of 1,672 mm (5 ft 5+13⁄16 in), or six Castilian feet).

[9] Other sources state that that decision was taken to allow bigger engines that could have enough power to climb the steep passes of a mountainous country such as Spain.

The decision for an Iberian gauge would later come to hinder interoperability of rail services with France, and it also made railway construction more expensive.

In 2023 transport officials in RENFE in Spain resigned when it was found that narrow-gauge passenger rolling-stock ordered in 2020 for the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria would be too wide for the tunnels and were to be redesigned with delays of a year or two in delivery.

Because of Spain's (until recently) relative lack of economic development, the Spanish railway network never became as extensive as those of most other European countries.

For instance, in terms of land area Spain is about 2.5 times the size of Great Britain but its railway network is about 3,000 km (1,900 mi) smaller.

[citation needed] Following the decentralization of Spain after 1978, those narrow gauge lines which did not cross the limits of autonomous communities of Spain were taken out of the control of FEVE and transferred to the regional governments, which formed, amongst others, Eusko Trenbideak and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

The Railway Sector Act of 2003 separated the management, maintenance and construction of rail infrastructure from train operation.

The Madrid–Barcelona line is extended via an international Perthus Tunnel beneath the Pyrenees to Perpignan where it is linked up with the French TGV high-speed system.

In June 2011, Renfe announced they would suppress the three daily high-speed trains between Toledo, Cuenca and Albacete because of lack of passengers despite an investment of 3.5 billion euros (this figure includes the full Madrid–Levante railway network construction costs, with its later extensions to Alicante opened in 2013 and to Murcia opened in 2021).