A propósito de TGV e "Obras de Fachada"

Não raras vezes, o projecto da linha de alta velocidade dos nossos vizinhos (AVE) é invocado como um "exemplo de sucesso" e, como se de uma relação causa-efeito se tratasse, uma prova  das enormes virtudes que o projecto português (leia-se, linha Lisboa - Madrid) encerra. 

Pois bem, aqui podem ser encontradas algumas das conclusões retiradas por especialistas dos EUA, no âmbito de um relatório para o desenvolvimento de um projecto similar norte-americano.

Fica o essencial:

"...the AVE programme is a good reminder of the foolish mismanagement of public funds (including from the EU Cohesion Fund) by both the Socialists and the PP. The Madrid media will rarely touch the subject, or only very lightly, because of the AVE’s continuing status as a symbol of the “new Spain”."

The US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, was very impressed when he came to Spain to gather information about a possible high-speed train project in America. Until he saw the bill. His comment: “You guys are rich. We can’t afford anything like this.”

Outras conclusões do estudo:

• The cost of the AVE project so far comes to about 50 billion euros.
• The passenger/kilometre ratio is 2.8 (compare 41.5 in France).
• The yearly maintenance cost is between 28,000 and 33,000 euros/km.
• When all the projected lines have been built and are operational, the maintenance costs will run to some 120 million euros a year. 
• According to the International Union of Railways (UIC), an average of 6 million passengers are needed for any line just to cover its maintenance costs: the most successful one so far in Spain (Barcelona-Madrid) carries around 5 million passengers a year, and the Madrid-Seville line just over 3 million.