Source: https://elmercantil.com/2024/07/22/transitalia-y-tramesa-estrenan-la-creacion-de-una-ansiada-red-de-autopistas-ferroviarias-en-espana/ Transitalia and Tramesa launch the creation of a long-awaited network of rail freight highways in SpainThe next batch of carriages acquired by Tramesa to operate the service will arrive in Spain at the beginning of next year. The rail freight corridor between the port of Valencia and Madrid had already begun operations, but today marked its official launch with an inauguration led by its promoters and various authorities. Following the arrival of the first ten T4000e railcars from the Slovakian manufacturer Tatravagónka, the rail operator Tramesa, a company within the Armando Álvarez group, estimates that the next shipment will arrive in Spain at the beginning of next year, as confirmed to this publication by its director, Jesús Calvo. The objective now is to gradually attract traffic in order to carefully select the best intermodal freight exchange mechanisms. Tramesa, in fact, does not expect to be able to consolidate the initially planned traffic, with four weekly trips, until after the summer. Furthermore, Jesús Calvo confirmed that, “now that the rail freight corridor is operational, there is growing interest from many potential clients in using it.” However, the company states that, for the time being, it will operate the service with semi-trailers from Transitalia, its main partner in this project.
From 10,000 trucks/year to 1,000 trucks/dayThe highway expects to move 10,000 semi-trailers per year and 1,000 per day once it is fully operationalDuring the inauguration, the director of Tramesa emphasized the need to "move forward with discussions with the commissioner for the Atlantic Corridor so that the Valencia-Portugal project can be completed as soon as possible. We are ready; we just need the green light from the ministry." In this regard, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, reiterated that his ministry is currently studying investments in the Madrid-Humanes-Talavera-Extremadura-Portugal sections to lay the groundwork for a paradigm shift in transport infrastructure, as he stated. This rail freight corridor will initially handle 10,000 trucks per year, "a modest figure," according to the minister, but one with significant growth potential. The ministry clarified that the commissioning of MSC's northern container terminal will involve the operation of up to 1,000 trucks daily, some of which will be transferred to rail, thus increasing the rail freight share. “There are few examples in Spain of similar social and economic profitability. As of today, the Mediterranean Corridor is 100% complete, with works either underway or already operational,” Minister Puente stated.For her part, the president of the Port Authority of Valencia, Mar Chao, emphasized the “innovative and dynamic” nature of the infrastructure, given that part of its structure rests on the eastern breakwater of the Port of Valencia, where Tramesa already owns and operates its terminal. Meanwhile, the Port of Valencia is still awaiting the start of the expansion works on the North Terminal . “Infrastructure is not an end in itself, but a tool for something greater, and as has been demonstrated with the investment in this project, we can achieve a great deal with more modest budgets,” stated Óscar Puente. Along the same lines, the minister announced that the Council of Ministers will approve two Adif construction contracts tomorrow, Tuesday. Specifically, the government will approve the commencement of complementary works on the La Encina-Valencia section and the construction of the standard gauge on the La Encina-Alicante junction section, for 200 million euros. and the maintenance of the traffic control facilities of the High Speed lines to Levante, for 66 million euros.
The parties involved reiterate that the connection with Portugal will be up and running “very soon”.ONE BILLION EUROS IN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT.Meanwhile, Infraestruturas de Portugal and Tramesa signed a protocol last June to extend the rail freight corridor from Valencia and Madrid to Entroncamento (Portugal) in the Portuguese section. The plan was to launch the rail freight corridor between Valencia and Portugal at the same time as the one connecting the port of Valencia with Madrid, with all parties involved committing to have the entire rail freight corridor, from Valencia to Portugal, operational by 2025. The question now is whether these deadlines will be met. The Port Authority of Valencia, the Ministry of Transport, and the two companies involved have all stated that they will be in a position to announce the launch of this new section, which will complete the multimodal service from Greece to Portugal via Italy and Spain, "very soon." At that point, those involved have assured, one billion euros will have been invested in infrastructure.Earlier this month , Tramesa announced the start of operations on the rail freight corridor connecting the Port of Valencia with the Abroñigal terminal (Madrid) until the Vicálvaro terminal is ready. The first train to depart from the Port of Valencia for the center of the Iberian Peninsula was a comfort train, a test run to ensure there were no problems along any section of the line. This successfully concluded the tests at the Abroñigal terminal in Madrid , which had been delayed due to access problems for the railcars manufactured by the Slovakian company Tatravagónka caused by track closures in Hendaye (Basque Country).
10 million eurosTramesa has acquired its 35 carriages from Tatravagónka for approximately 10 million eurosThe new intermodal terminal on the East Dock enables the operation of the first maritime-rail highway on the Iberian Peninsula, allowing trucks to travel from Italy to Madrid by transferring within the Valencia port area. This reduces CO2 emissions, as the trucks travel by train instead of road. The rail freight service, operated by Medway , a subsidiary of the shipping giant MSC, will use a train of 20 double wagons, each capable of hauling two semi-trailers. Tramesa has already purchased its 35 wagons from Tatravagónka for approximately €10 million. Transitalia, for its part, has purchased the P400 truck-specific semi-trailers. With this service, the operators aim to reach approximately 200 departures annually within a short period. This intermodal service, which has taken five years to implement, has not been without its difficulties due to its unique nature in Spain and unforeseen obstacles. In fact, the initial tests were delayed by a year, and the original plan was to have the rail freight highway fully operational by the summer of 2023 , while the delivery of the Tatravagónka railcars was scheduled for two years later. Tramesa has invested around two million euros in port machinery, specifically a gantry crane , as well as railcars for this rail freight highway, which is why the authorization for its operation is for 15 years, to allow for the amortization of this investment. Furthermore, the technical report from State Ports Authority, which the Port of Valencia needed to receive for the installation of the crane, also extended the project's timeline.In May of this year, a track closure in the tunnel between Irún and Lezo (Basque Country) due to the appearance of several cracks during a routine inspection by Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager) during the installation of the third rail further delayed the delivery of the first ten railcars from the Slovakian manufacturer, which by then were already waiting at the border crossing in Hendaye. This caused the testing at the Abroñigal rail terminal in Madrid to be delayed as well. Similarly, the delivery of the terminal intended for Tramesa at the eastern dock of the Port of Valencia, from which the Armando Álvarez group's subsidiary operates the highway, was also delayed. Following the revised schedule, these initial tests at the intermodal terminal were planned for mid- to late April.