What Destinations for the Southern High-Speed Rail Link?

According to European Commission forecasts, traffic on the various existing transport networks between the member states of the Union may double by the year 2020. Hence substantial investment in transport infrastructure is crucially necessary to put in place a network that can cope with this growth in traffic. This is why the Commission has allotted a budget of almost 500 billion euros for the period 2007-2020, more than half of it to be focused on priority projects or routes.
The extension of the high-speed rail network, particularly in the South-West of Europe, has a key role here. But such a project also depends largely on the backing of national governments – in this case, those of France, Spain and Portugal. Where are we at with the high-speed rail network for South-West Europe? What are the aims and prospects for the next few years? Jean-François Drevet here casts a very precise light on what might become of the rail network linking France, Spain and Portugal in less than 10 years’ time.