In a recent EU-wide survey on railways, believe it or not, UK railways came top of the list for good timekeeping. Shows you how bad the rest are! However, here in Spain, the introduction of the AVE from Madrid to Valencia has seen a significant transfer of customers from aircraft to train, most of whom are commuters and business travellers. If you book well ahead (as already mentioned for the UK railways) you can find a fare that is the same or cheaper than the equivalent flight and, because rail is city centre to city centre, the overall journey is faster.