Adif has launched a tender for the drafting of the project to adapt the infrastructure on Zaragoza-Tarragona rail to the rail motorway services which will circulate along this route, in which more than EUR 60 million will be invested. The tender for drafting the project starts at a value of EUR 2.8 million.
The Spanish rail infrastructure manager will carry out works and activities on the gauge for a total of 6 tunnels and 16 overpasses and on the catenary system and will adapt them to the dimensions of the P-400 type semi-trailers.
This action is added to others carried out by the company to increase the competitiveness of this line, expanding the sidings to 750 m in 5 stations including Selgua, Marcén-Poleñino and Almudévar (Huesca), Juneda and Raimat (Lleida), after concluding the one in Vilaverd, with an investment of more than EUR 25 million.
The rail motorway services on this section will provide continuity to the Algeciras-Zaragoza rail motorway and will enable routes from Algeciras, Huelva, Seville, Madrid and Vitoria to Tarragona and Barcelona, promoting synergies between maritime and rail transport.
Zaragoza-Tarragona conventional rail is one of the routes with the greatest demand for transporting goods on the railway network, with more than 100 circulations per week in each direction and links the main production and consumption nodes of the Iberian Peninsula, Madrid and Barcelona, forming part of the flows from the center and south with the northeast of Spain and the rest of Europe.
The companies in the logistics chain value positively in this route that a significant part of the merchandise traffic is of an international nature, coming from Turkey, Italy and Morocco, among others, arriving in Spain through the ports of Tarragona, Barcelona and Algeciras along the so-called motorways of the sea.
The rail motorway is a freight transport service that loads road trailers or semi-trailers, using specialised train cars. This logistics solution represents significant savings, both in external costs and GHG emissions, which increase its competitiveness. Road emissions compared to electric railways are 4.7 times higher, with annual savings of 620,000 tonnes of CO2.
Adif is working on 16 itineraries after receiving, through the Support and Advisory Office for rail motorway – AAFF (OAA), the interest of logistics operators, port authorities and railway companies.
The most advanced Iberian gauge itineraries are Valencia – Madrid, which will be put into service soon and Algeciras – Zaragoza, which has already launched the contract for the adaptation of the railway gauge of tunnels and overpasses on the Madrid – Zaragoza route and is finalising this process to put out to tender these actions between Madrid and Algeciras.
Along with the rail motorway Zaragoza-Tarragona, Adif has other routes in process, such as Huelva – Madrid – Zaragoza, Seville – Madrid – Zaragoza, València – Badajoz – Entroncamento and Madrid – Badajoz – Entroncamento – Oporto.
In addition, its OAA analyses the socioeconomic viability of six other Iberian gauge railway routes such as Tarragona – Barcelona, Madrid – Valladolid – Burgos – Vitoria; Murcia – Madrid; Cádiz – Madrid, Tamarite de Litera-Irún/Portbou and Zaragoza – Pamplona (Noain) – Vitoria (Júndiz).
In standard gauge, rail motorway services are already provided from the terminals of Can Tunis and Morrot in Barcelona to Le Pertús and different points in northern Europe. Likewise, work is being done on the Vitoria – Gasteiz – Irún, Murcia – Le Pertús and Tarragona – Le Pertús itineraries.
The deployment of the rail motorway network is part of the set of actions that Adif has underway to increase freight transport by rail in Spain, in line with its 2030 Strategic Plan, the Safe, Sustainable and Connected Mobility Strategy 2030 and the Goods initiative 30 of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (Mitma).
In November 2023, Adif presented its rail motorway plan and priorities to develop this kind of services to boost rail freight transport with investments focused on the adaption of the infrastructure, the conversion of terminals into connected logistics nodes, the improvement of network capacity management, the promotion of rail motorways and digitalisation.
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