HSR is an infrastructure that is funded by the public purse. For this reason, when designing the HSR network, it is justified that the administrations involved take into account criteria such as territorial equity, which a private company would probably not consider. Thanks to this kind of approach the HSR has reached areas which would not otherwise have seen the benefits of this type of service. The problem is that if we consider the associated opportunity cost, this is probably not the best way to help such areas. It is, then, necessary to establish a series of priorities and minimum levels of social and economic profitability. In this paper, we have identified a number of countries and areas in which this principle has not been taken into consideration. Paradoxically, this calls into question the very idea of extending the network into areas with low CAT levels because of growing criticism concerning an inefficient allocation of resources. In contrast, obtaining a good level of profitability and showing the social benefits of HSR will offer the best guarantees for extending its use over a wider territory.
There is therefore a need for both global and comparative evaluations of the CAT of HST stations of the type presented here. This will be the first step within a deeper analysis of specific connections or countries. In this article we have presented the results of a general comparison using the data currently available. In further research