The long-awaited launch of railway highways in Spain just got a bit closer. Adif has signed agreements with two companies to carry out actions in tunnels, overpasses, bridges, stations and electrification elements to facilitate access to trains carrying semitrailers in pocket wagons.
Madrid – Port of Seville route
The first is the connection of Madrid-Abroñigal with the Port of Seville (container terminal of Terminal Marítima del Guadalquivir), which can carry up to 16,000 semitrailers per annum. Rail&Truck Strait Union (RTSU) will acquire Iberian gauge pocket wagons for this route, while Grupo Pantoja will buy P400 semitrailers to be loaded onto these trains. The plan is to double the number of semitrailers in transport on this route within a year which would still only make 10% of the 300,000 trucks that run on the Seville – Madrid – Seville today by highways.
Madrid – Port of Huelva route
Another route will connect the Port of Huelva with the Madrid-Abroñigal railway terminal, with a planned extension to Zaragoza in the future. Renfe Mercancías, the operator on this route, has committed to having specialised wagons for carrying semitrailers on this line for the one daily train in the initial phase.
The rolling stock
RTSU (a company of Ecorail, Continental Rail and Marcotran) has ordered seven Euro6000 electric and four Euro4001 diesel locomotives, and they will be leased from Alpha Trains. Their arrival is scheduled between 2024 and 2025.
Renfe Mercancías also has Euro6000 locomotives on order and in delivery.
From the point of view of wagons, VTG ordered 200 pocket wagons (type T4000) from Tatravagónka at the end of 2022. Their delivery should start in September this year and continue in 2024.
Ports usually generate containerised traffic. In the case of these ports, many Ro-Ro ships and short sea shipping are arriving, creating large numbers of semitrailers that were, by now, only transferred by road. There is a strong push in Spain to transfer more goods on rails as the country lags behind the European average, and with the 30 by 2030 target across the EU, opening such routes is vital to increase the share of rail.
