The maritime giant Maersk will start up to four rail services between the port of Barcelona and the south of France at the beginning of next November with Captrain . There are three direct weekly maritime container links with Toulouse and one with Lyon. These dedicated services constitute the beginning of a historic operation for rail traffic between Spain and France, as it is the first time that a freight train has been launched without intervention on the Spanish-French border, as explained by market sources. Captrain has already been operating services without intervention on the border between Spain and Portugal for 15 years.

The 750 meter trains of this service are powered by Captrain's Stadler Euro6000 locomotives.

In this way, maneuvers are reduced, which results in an improvement in costs and efficiency, because no intervention or change of driver or any type of rolling stock is needed until arrival at the destination, in this case, Toulouse. and Lyon. The 750-meter trains of this new service for Maersk are powered by Captrain's Stadler Euro6000 locomotives and cross the border via LFP Perthus on international gauge. “Through Toulouse, the solution connects the cargo with Bordeaux” through the network operated by Naviland, as explained by the Danish multinational. In addition, the shipping group plans to extend it from the Spanish side to Tarragona and Zaragoza, although more details have not yet been specified in this regard.

Maersk has highlighted that, thanks to these interoperable electric locomotives, the sustainability of its operations is also improved, which is also rewarded by a shorter distance traveled to reach its destinations in the south of France. In fact, “this new rail offering can shorten transit times for import and export cargo in the Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon areas by up to 12 days (7 days on average) compared to traditional routes through French ports. or northern Europe.” Therefore, the creation of this rail service operated through APM Spain Railways, a subsidiary of the Danish group, allows the port of Barcelona to capture new maritime container flows that until now were transported through other European locations.