SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND HIGH SPEED RAIL: THE CASE STUDY OF SPAIN

Very few contributions in the literature have dealt with the issue of social exclusion related to High Speed Rail systems. The objective of this manuscript is to understand what are the factors excluding users from choosing High Speed Rail services considering as case study Spain. For this purpose, a Revealed Preference survey was employed in November and December 2015. A questionnaire was submitted to users of the Spanish transport systems travelling for long distance-journeys. The aim was that of investigating their perception of High Speed Rail system and the factors inhibiting passengers or excluding them from its use. Data about their socioeconomic characteristics were collected as well. The main result of the survey has been that a relationship between social exclusion and High Speed Rail in Spain is present, especially in terms of geographical exclusion.