Spain dedicates half of the budget that France and Germany to the maintenance of high speed

BrusselsThe tragic collision of two trains in Urda, in the province of Toledo, which has already left more than 70 fatalities, has put the Spanish railway network in the spotlight and reopened the debate on infrastructure maintenance. With the data in hand, a surprising conclusion is reached: Spain is the European country that has allocated the most money to expanding the high-speed network, but the investment in conservation and improvement of existing lines carries much less weight than that of its major railway neighbors.

First, it should be clarified that it is difficult to obtain recent data on railway investments in the different states of the European Union, among other reasons due to differences in calculation systems. Thus, to make these claims we refer to the Railway Market Monitoring Report (RMMS), by the European Commission, published in 2025, which analyzes the evolution of the EU railway market between 2018 and 2022.

According to this report, Spain allocated 83.8% of the declared expenditure on high speed during this period to new infrastructure, while only 16.2% of the expenditure was allocated to the maintenance of existing infrastructure. The Spanish choice contrasts with that of other European countries, such as France (34%), Germany (36.5%), and Italy (40%), which allocate twice the proportion to the maintenance, renewals, and improvements of existing tracks.

If we look at the absolute figures, Spain allocated on average 239 million euros annually to the maintenance, renovation, and improvement of the high-speed network, while France allocated 463 million and Germany 356. On the other hand, for new infrastructure, it allocated an average of 1,240 million annually, more than France (900 million), Germany (620 million), and Italy (60 million).

Added to this is the fact that the Spanish railway network is very extensive —especially due to the weight of the high-speed network. This means that the investment per kilometer is much lower than in the rest of the EU territory. While the Spanish state invested 95,857 euros for every kilometer of railway network in 2022, the European average that same year was 191,092, that is to say, almost double. The data, in this case, refers to the network as a whole, both high-speed and conventional trains.

The maintenance challenge

Various experts point out that, as a network grows, as is the case in Spain, "it is necessary to invest more in maintenance than in construction," in the words of Armando Carrillo Zanuy, a researcher at the European Railway Research Network of Excellence, who insists that countries like Switzerland and Germany that have already expanded their network to the maximum allocate investment primarily to maintenance.

In the opinion of some analysts consulted, a byproduct of the commitment to build new high-speed lines has been the low investment in the conventional rail network. "The commuter network is experiencing a recognized lack of investment, and the most important cause of this lack of investment has been high-speed rail, which has caused investments in the conventional network to disappear," says Joan Carles Salmeron, director of Terminus.

Be that as it may, maintenance is an essential condition for railway safety, but it is not the only factor that determines the risk of an accident. Carrillo insists that accidents like the one in Urda are multicausal: "design errors, human error, or bad luck." "The truth is that we have had quite bad luck with these latest accidents. But that does not mean that we have done things completely wrong," he adds.

His opinion is shared by other experts who agree in defending that the safety of this means of transport does not depend only on whether a country prioritizes high-speed rail or conventional trains: both services are subject to safety rules and systems. "The train, whatever it may be, is the safest means of transport of all," maintains Salmeron.