Summary - TST 34

TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES

Luis SANTOS y José Luis LALANA
International context, arguments and background on the purpose of the direct railway from Paris to Algeciras (1914-1919)

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[ Abstract ]

The direct railway from the French border to Madrid, the preliminary draft of which was launched in 1914 and transformed in 1919 to a direct railway to the port of Algeciras, is a matter of historical interest, for a variety of reasons. It was a proposal that had to face great opposition and didn’t become reality, but that added the most novel and debatable items on the subject of railway: a direct line without fixed points, first-class, on double-track, electrified, with international rail gauge, specialized for travelers and built and exploited by the State. The national debate was manifold and combined the local interests with the technical polemic. This contribution try to frame the explanation of the national issue on its international contexts: the prestige of the transcontinental railways, the bilateral France-Spain relationships and the internationalization of the great north-American capitalism, focused on the American International Corporation.