17 Nov, 2010 @ 12:05
1 min read

Spain’s trains speed ahead

SPAIN will overtake France as Europe’s high-speed rail superpower following the looming launch of the Madrid-Valencia AVE line.

The line, due to open on December 18, will increase Spain’s high-speed network to 2,000 kilometres, putting it behind only China and Japan globally.

France has 1,900 kilometres and Germany 1,300. UK is well behind with a petty 108 kilometres.

According to consultancy Accenture the six billion euro Madrid-Valencia line will create 136,000 jobs.
Critics, however, are saying the project’s cost is unjustified in the current economic climate.

From 2012 Andalucian residents will be able to travel on AVE all the way to France and onwards across Europe but plans to extend the network to Portugal have been shelved.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

Slippery slope for eel catchers

Next Story

Gibraltar airport in limbo

Latest from National News

Go toTop