Razones y maravedís: Una mirada crítica a los negocios del ferrocarril en España (1844-1943)

Abstract

The business of the railways in Spain in the stage of the system of concessions to private companies covered a long period that approached the century. The first line put into operation was made in 1848 and the nationalization of the entire wide-track network was enacted in 1941. The long-term study of the development of these companies and their relationship with the regulatory state of the system has three key periods differentiated, although very unequal in their duration: the concession, the exploitation and the rescue. In each of these stages, it's spun relationships with complex analysis and it's made scenarios with obvious conflicts of interest between their protagonists, outlays not always justified from public flows, or rules were promulgated that did not help a balanced functioning of the system. The railway has always been in the spotlight, which forces us to make a critical analysis of its history.