Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Sustainable Mobility (Mitma) awarded a EUR 513,900 contract, VAT included, for drafting of the studies to analyse the feasibility of establishing a freight route for Pau-Canfranc rail connection with Mediterranean Corridor, when the international railway line is reopened.
In this sense, the current and future functional needs will be analysed, by type of traffic – passengers and freight – and by type of gauge.
The study will be prepared by the joint venture formed by the companies Ayesa, Ingeniería y Arquitectura and Teirlog Engineering.
Currently, the freight connection between the Zaragoza node and the coastal axis of the Mediterranean Corridor in the Barcelona area is carried out through two single-track lines of Iberian gauge with a preferential direction of circulation, so that the freight trains going from Zaragoza to Barcelona run on the Zaragoza – Lleida – Plana de Picamoixons – Barcelona line and the opposite direction is carried out on the Barcelona – Mora la Nova – Caspe – Zaragoza line. On both lines, Adif is also promoting actions to boost freight rail traffic, such as widening sidings and tunnel and overpass gauges.
The studies will analyse different possibilities for action to alleviate the current and future problems, such as increasing the number of kilometres to be covered, reversing the route or breaking the load, including a possible direct route, without going through Zaragoza, which allows the connection with Pau-Canfranc, estimating the economic investment and the time schedule of these actions. Specifically, as detailed in the tender documents, at least three alternatives will be analysed with the different possibilities for the Pau-Canfranc rail connection with Mediterranean Corridor.
One of the alternatives (Alternative 0) – a minimum initiative – would consist of identifying or implementing a loading / unloading and / or transshipment facility for goods in the Zaragoza area with the aim of enabling the continuity of international traffic coming down from Canfranc via the existing Iberian gauge network to Catalonia.
The Alternative 1 consists of analysing the implementation of a loading, unloading and transshipment terminal for goods in the Tardienta area (Huesca) and, from there, traffic would continue towards Barcelona via Iberian gauge on the Tardienta – Lleida – Sant Vicenç de Calders line.
Alternative 3 – the most ambitious one – would consist of transporting goods directly on standard gauge line without breaking the load from Canfranc to the Mediterranean Corridor. To do this, the viability of implementing standard gauge on the Zaragoza – San Vicenç de Calders route would have to be analysed.
The scope of this work will be the development of preliminary studies with the necessary and sufficient level of detail to allow decision-making on the most suitable alternatives for this freight rail route.
The study is included in the project funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the project “Bridging the cross border missing link between FR & SP: Pau-Canfranc – Zaragoza” involving the rehabilitation or reopening of the Pau-Canfranc – Zaragoza cross-border railway line between
France and Spain. The project concerns studies necessary to be declared of public interest in France, studies to prepare the network to new traffic induced by the project, technical studies on the Somport International Railway Tunnel, and a detailed design study for improving connections to the Plaza rail-road terminal in Zaragoza. The project will contribute to the reinforcement of the cross-border rail infrastructure between Spain and France.
The project has been selected under the CEF 2022 calls for proposals with a maximum EU contribution of EUR 9.1 million grant.
The studies are in line with the “Merchandise 30” initiative, which seeks to promote rail freight transport as the backbone of multimodal logistics chains, to promote the decarbonisation and sustainability of transport. Railway contributes to sustainable mobility from a social, economic and environmental point of view. Thus, the action responds to the objectives of the Sustainable, Safe and Connected Mobility Strategy 2030, aiming at improving social cohesion, economic growth and solving citizens’ mobility problems.
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