2023-04-29 18:34:17
He freight transport by rail It is one of the pending subjects of the mobility system in Spain. Rail freight transport in our country has registered a very low modal share in recent years, between 4% and 6% in the last decade (measured in tons/km) and specifically 4.8% in the year 2019, only ahead of Greece and Ireland and significantly lower than the EU average, located at 17%, according to data from a report by the public consultant Ineco for the Ministry of Transport. The study underlines that in an area of 1,000 kilometers from the center of the peninsula there is a demand for merchandise originated by a population of approximately 50 million inhabitants, while in Central European countries this demand for products originates from 250-300 million people.
The European rail system transported in 2019 about 1.680 million tons (Mt), of which only 26 corresponded to traffic in Spain, representing 1.5% of the total for the EU. Rail freight transport in Spain has gone from 31 Mt in 2005 to 24.7 in 2021, the latest official data available, so in 16 years there has been a 27% drop. In addition, it represents only 1.13% of the total freight traffic registered in Spain in that year. Of this amount, the flows associated with maritime-rail chains currently represent more than half of rail freight traffic.
The Ineco report details some of the main shortcomings of the Spanish network. Thus, the extensive development of the rail network (mainly the high-speed network), as well as the establishment of increasingly demanding network quality standards, have generated a growing increase in network maintenance needs. “For this reason, and also affected by the budget constraints After the years of economic crisis, the investment effort made in conventional railway infrastructure in recent decades has been reduced. Consequently, the conventional network presents limitations in the performance of its technical characteristics in certain sections that can affect the competitiveness of the freight railway”, he warns.
It also underlines the interoperability difficulties derived from the existence of two networks with different technical characteristics: the Iberian gauge network and the High Speed network in European width suitable for freight traffic. Similarly, the existence of different track gauges, electrification and signaling on the border with France (and the rest of Europe) “involves costs and cargo transshipment times that tax international rail freight traffic”. And he concludes that intermodal terminals present diverse situations, but as a general rule they require investment to adapt to the new requirements demanded by the market. Some of them are obsolete, lack investment and renovation of material, and located in areas close to urban centers, which makes their use difficult, especially for transport of dangerous goods.
To try to reverse this situation, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan seeks to speed up the modal shift from road to rail to reduce Spain’s dependence on imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions. The Government hopes to mobilize an investment of some 7,867 million euros and estimates a additional private financing of 1,200 million linked to the aid program for companies. It seeks to advance the development of national and European corridors, promote the electrification of the train tracksimprove rail connections with ports, logistics centers and with France and Portugal, transfer digital and technological advances to the sector and promote a modal change in transport, mainly promoting rail freight.
The project is divided into four programs focused on direct investment and aid to public companies that will have a multiplier effect on employment and GDP. Adif will receive 2,987.6 million in direct investment for European corridors. The Trans-European Transport Network will be endowed with another 1,905 million euros. And the support program for sustainable and digital transport will have another 800 million.
The program most directly linked to the transport of goods will have 974.5 million for the development of intermodal terminals and strategic logistics to guarantee their interoperability and capacity. It also seeks to accelerate the improvement of land access to ports with the execution of the portfolio of access projects and improvements in the rail network that State Ports has already developed with the collaboration of Adif and the General Directorate of Highways. Likewise, the accessibility, sustainability, digitization and security of ports will be promoted.
The Ministry plans to invest 217 million euros in acting, mainly, in four strategic terminals in the coming years to promote rail freight transport in collaboration with road transport, establishing the modal transfer of goods from road to rail as the main objective. The terminals, which need to expand their functionalities, will be publicly accessible and the concession will be put to tender. The four selected infrastructures are Vicálvaro in Madrid, The Lobster in Barcelona, Saint Louis Fountain in Valencia and Jundiz in Álava and in two of them there is the circumstance of having to migrate from the existing terminal because it has run out of growth possibilities. The four need to expand the current functionalities to go to a model where the intermodal terminal converge with the logistics area, in addition to other complementary and auxiliary services for transport, merchandise and companies and workers.
In addition to investing in these four main terminals, they will develop rail connections at other logistics facilities to favor rail freight traffic and make it more competitive. Thus, the adaptation and remodeling of the Can Tunis logistics facility (Barcelona), the improvement of the Orduña terminal (Bizkaia), the adaptation of the Lezo logistics facility (Gipuzkoa), the improvement of the Muriedas terminal ( Santander) and the renovation of the Escombreras terminal (Murcia).
Regarding the improvement and construction of the land access to ports and terminals Spanish will focus on the execution of the necessary works outside the port or terminal that allow its connection by road and with the rail network of the European corridors (mainly). The development of the external railway accesses to the ports and terminals will have direct investments of 407 million euros and will be carried out in seven port authorities. The actions included in the Plan include rail access to the Port of A Coruña and Castellón, and the construction of 750-meter sidings. Likewise, it is planned to allocate 43 million to the construction and improvement of road access to the ports, particularly the southern access to the Port of Algeciras.
In geographical terms, the railway map design Spanish grants Castilla y León the role of articulating and connecting merchandise traffic between the south of the peninsula and the north, especially in its ramifications to Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country. This favors its importance in the Atlantic freight corridor, which France does not plan to connect until the year 2042. The objective of the three affected communities is to reach 2040 with the homework done on the 867 kilometers of North-West roads to go from the current 7 million tons per year transported by train to more than 20 and tripling the market share of the total merchandise moved by land (from 4% to 12%), diverting traffic to the road.
He mediterranean corridor It is the other major infrastructure pending closure to allow the connection of all the Mediterranean ports with Europe. The bulk of the works to be developed are still in Spanish territory. The forecast is that the french connection be completed in the year 2030.
In addition, Aragon promotes the Cantabrian-Mediterranean corridor, for which the complete execution of the corridor and the modernization of its Zaragoza-Teruel-Sagunto section are vital. This axis will link the Mediterranean and Cantabrian ports through the railway through Teruel and Zaragoza, and their logistics platforms.
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