The Transport Committee of the European Parliament has relegated the much-desired Spanish rail line Ruta de la Plata to a lower priority in its roadmap. Portugal and local Spanish authorities lobbied for the renovation of the decommissioned railway that improves connectivity along the Portuguese border. The lobbying of the Portuguese ambassador and local western Spanish […]
Category: Spain
Stadler to produce 130 electric freight locomotives for Spanish operators
Stadler will produce 130 electric freight locomotives for various Spanish operators. The company intends to supply the trains between 2024 and 2026. Currently, Spain operates between 400 and 500 freight locomotives. The company has signed contracts with nearly all of the country’s railway operators for the delivery of ‘Euro6000’ electric freight locomotives and aims to […]
Spain to turn Valladolid into major rail hub by 2026
Spain will finish construction works on a rail terminal in Valladolid by 2026. The works will provide the city with a freight terminal, a rail technology centre and a maintenance hub. The project will turn Valladolid into a major rail hub on the TEN-T Atlantic Corridor. Spanish railway infrastructure administrator Adif put out a tender […]
Labour disputes bring February strikes in Spain starting today
The Spanish railway workers’ unions CCOO and SCF launched a 23-hour strike at midnight on 9 February. The strike is expected to affect traffic throughout the country, with 65 per cent of rail freight services not running. This results from a labour dispute with infrastructure manager Adif concerning the number of working hours per week […]
Port of Huelva closer to launching key railway link
The Spanish port of Huelva is taking decisive steps to elevate its rail operations and increase the share of rail freight in its total throughput. Plans entail launching direct railway services to Madrid so cargo can further transit towards Northern Europe. The railway services are expected to commence in partnership with operator Renfe by 2025. […]
Spain starts 2024 strong with TEN-T developments
The Spanish integration of EU railway standards and the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is taking shape. The year started with some significant developments for rail freight, mostly regarding the Mediterranean and the Atlantic TEN-T corridors running through the country. In the context of the Mediterranean Corridor, the extension of various sidings to handle longer convoys […]
Volkswagen Navarra slightly reduced rail freight volumes in 2023
The Volkswagen Navarra factory in Pamplona, near the Spanish border with France, has slightly reduced the volumes they move via rail. Between 2022 and 2023, there was a decrease from 54.1 per cent to 51.9 per cent in the number of units the company moved via freight trains. Despite the last drop, the company claimed […]
Ermewa gets 17.3 million euros from Spain to finance 200 wagons
Rail rolling stock leasing company Ermewa will deploy 200 new wagons in Spain in 2024. Its Spanish subsidiary, Ermewa Ibérica, received a grant of 17,3 million euros from the Spanish Ministry of Transport to finance this project. The wagons will be of two types: 150 Shimmns and 50 pocket wagons. The wagons will be initially […]