ABSTRACT

High-speed rail (HSR) is currently the most significant mode of transportation in Spain. In social market economies governments can intervene in markets when there are failures related to the strategic policy of the economic agents, the existence of information asymmetries and problems of the assignation of property rights. The methodology used to evaluate the social benefit in the HSR cost-benefit analysis is a generalisation of the one used by Dodgson. The fixed costs correspond to the construction of the infrastructure. The Spanish Ministry of Public Works has studied the useful lifetime values for each of the various categories that comprise the infrastructure, which include rails, electrification and safety. The economic evaluation of Spanish HSR projects show that there are numerous factors that influence their profitability to a greater or lesser extent. The social profitability of the HSR is obtained by comparing the costs and benefits described previously, updated to the base year through the chosen rate of social discount.