WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE? 400 miles in 160 minutes.

For several decades, the world's busiest air route was the "Puente Aereo" (air bridge) between Madrid and Barcelona. At a distance of about 400 miles on the ground, it's also a perfect distance for high speed rail. Ever since the AVE line was completed to Barcelona's Sants station early last year, high speed rail has been winning a greater and greater share of the Spanish travel market - despite Spain being hit extremely hard by the global recession, with unemployment of around 20%.

The trains now carry more passengers than the planes. (The articles do not discuss automobile trips: in the United States, rail and air jockey for a relatively small share of total travel miles, including the Northeast Corridor, where the not-much-faster-than-the-Congressional Acela Expresses have been taking passengers away from the airlines.)

California High Speed Rail suggests a parallel.

Once again, it is worth reminding readers that Spain offers a very good comparison to California in terms of not just high speed rail - but population density and geography. SF Transbay to LA Union Station is 432 miles, and our trains are projected to have a higher operating speed.

Ultimately, the Spanish experience suggests the SNCF report and the Brookings Institution are both correct in suggesting the LA-SF route, the nation's second busiest, will support a high HSR ridership. As our airports already burst at the seams during flush economic times and with rising oil prices, it's clear that we need the HSR option in California. Spain's success story will soon be replicated here.

There are a few corridors, closer to Cold Spring Shops headquarters, with histories of fast running, that might also benefit by faster and more frequent train services. Given the time it takes to clear security and load and unload through one door, a latter-day Hiawatha could load passengers and be past Wisconsin Dells before a plane bound for the Cities loads passengers and takes off. And it could set down and pick up passengers near Milwaukee and other online cities to boot, an unintended consequence of a rail network the Spaniards have discovered.