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High Speed Rail (HSR) in Spain began in 1992 and currently has a network of some 3200 km. In this 25-year period, accessibility has progressively increased, changing its spatial distribution throughout the country. However, improvements in the HSR network may or may not have contributed to a more balanced territorial distribution of accessibility levels. These distributional effects of HSR have important implications for territorial cohesion, which is a strategic planning goal for transport infrastructures in the European Union. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating ‘accessibility-based’ territorial cohesion effects of HSR corridors. Accessibility values are calculated for successive five-year periods. Territorial cohesion effects are assessed based on changes in accessibility patterns and their spatial distribution. The results show that new HSR lines have significantly increased the accessibility levels of the …