Alsa picks up speed in the rail business, but without acceleration. The Asturian company was in all the pools about the operators that would enter the high-speed rail in Spain with the liberalization of services. It is the leader in road passenger transport, has a license and safety certificate to operate passenger trains by the General Interest Railway Network (RFIG) and has the experience of its parent company National Express, which operates high-speed trains in the United Kingdom. However, Alsa is still waiting in a business in which Ouigo (SNCF) has already entered and this month Iryo (Air Nostrum, Globalvia and Trenitalia) will do so to compete with Renfe. The fact that it has not taken the step in high-speed services does not mean that Alsa does not continue to take positions in the sector. Since last year it has increased its activity in goods, training and maintenance of railway facilities.
Alsa began its journey in the 19th century with “La Ferrocarrilana”, which despite its name had nothing to do with the train. It was a stagecoach that linked Luarca and Oviedo. Alsa’s link with the railway began 21 years ago, when the company took over the management of the Bulnes funicular, in the heart of the Asturian part of the Picos de Europa National Park. Since then, Alsa has been taking steps in the business on rails. In passenger transport, the Asturian group has participated since 2007 in Metros Ligeros de Madrid, the concessionaire company for line 1 of the Madrid Light Metro, which links the districts of Hortaleza and Ciudad Lineal, and also participated in Travelsa, the concessionaire of the failed Vélez-Málaga tram that the Andalusian city council is now trying to recover. In addition, Alsa was a pioneer in private passenger transport through the General Interest Railway Network when it began operating the “Philip II Train” in 2017, a tourist rail service between Madrid-Príncipe Pío and El Escorial. The company also operates charter tourist trains organized by associations of friends of the railway and different county councils and town halls –such as the “Tren de los Reyes Magos”, the “Puerta de Andalucía”, the “Mezquita de Córdoba”, the “Expreso Cariñena”, “The Ages of Man” or the “Tren dels Llacs”–, and tourist trains around Spain chartered by the English railway travel agency PTG Tours.
In 2003 Alsa created the subsidiary Alsa Rail to bring together and promote its railway activity in the transport of passengers, but also of goods and in areas such as consultancy, maintenance, auxiliary services and training. In this last segment, it created the Alsa Railway Training Center (CFF-Alsa), which was approved in 2018 and last year was awarded the training services of the Generalitat de Catalunya Railways (FGC).
Also last year, Alsa increased its maintenance services for facilities and buildings on Adif’s high-speed lines. In 2021, it won the maintenance contracts for the Madrid-Levante line and the La Sagrera building in Barcelona, which were added to those it already had for the maintenance of facilities and buildings on the Lleida-French Border, Olmedo-Orense high-speed sections. and Antequera-Granada.
maneuvering service
The operation of freight trains has also increased. Alsa manages the train maneuvering services of the Zaragoza-Plaza freight transport terminal and the management of the maneuvers of the Valencia logistics terminal (Fuente de San Luis) has been added to this contract since September 2021. “This contract has allowed Alsa to obtain authorization to operate from the Port Authority of Valencia, which has positioned the company as a fundamental part of the freight transport logistics chain,” the Asturian group points out in its latest report.
Alsa remains very attentive to the opportunities that may arise in the railway market, although company sources pointed out that in recent months “there has been no relevant development in Alsa’s railway activity.”
Alsa Rail
- passenger transport. Alsa manages the Bulnes funicular, participates in Light Metros of Madrid and operates the “Philip II Train” and other charter tourist trains.
- Merchandise transports. It manages the freight train shunting services at the Zaragoza and Valencia terminals.
- training. The Alsa Railway Training Center (CFF-Alsa) was approved in 2018 and last year it was awarded the training services of the Generalitat de Catalunya Railways.
- Maintenance. Last year, Alsa was also awarded the contract for maintenance services for facilities and buildings on the Madrid-Levante high-speed line, in addition to those already provided on the Lleida-French Border, Olmedo-Orense and Antquera high-speed sections. -Grenade.