{"id":182326,"date":"2025-03-04T20:09:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T10:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=60378"},"modified":"2025-03-04T20:09:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T10:09:21","slug":"tarragona-barcelona-axis-reopens-after-mixed-gauge-implementation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=182326","title":{"rendered":"Tarragona-Barcelona axis reopens after mixed gauge implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Rail traffic between Barcelona and Tarragona is back in full effect after the reopening of the Roda de Ber\u00e0 tunnel, where a mixed gauge (Iberian and standard) was installed. On this very line, Hupac will launch a new service next week connecting the area with Antwerp in Belgium.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-60378\"><\/span>With the reopening of the tunnel, freight and passenger trains can once again use the infrastructure in Iberian gauge between Barcelona and Tarragona. Rail operator Hupac, for example, is seizing the opportunity by launching a new service connecting Antwerp with Tarragona via Barcelona and the Rode de Ber\u00e0 tunnel. The service will run five times a week starting from Monday 10 March.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"readmore\">\n<div class=\"readmore-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/specials\/2025\/02\/21\/the-stagnation-of-spanish-rail-freight\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Can-Tunis-rail-terminal-e1740129390478-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"readmore-thumbnail\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-info\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/specials\/2025\/02\/21\/the-stagnation-of-spanish-rail-freight\/\" class=\"readmore-title\">The stagnation of Spanish rail freight<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>A standard gauge link for freight trains<\/h2>\n<p>The works in the Roda de Ber\u00e0 tunnel, which measures 422 metres in length, are part of the project to create a mixed gauge railway between Barcelona and Tarragona, a key section of the TEN-T Mediterranean Corridor. This specific initiative was included in a 35 million euros investment for the Tarragona-Sant Vicen\u00e7 de Calders section.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe (tunnel) section has been widened by lowering the level by approximately 1.5 metres to install a third rail on both tracks, which enables the circulation of trains in both standard and conventional gauge\u201d, the Spanish Ministry of Transport specified. Other operations included the installation of a slab track, which will make maintenance easier, and a new drainage system.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona and Tarragona are already connected via a standard gauge railway, but this line is used by high-speed passenger trains. The mixed gauge infrastructure, on the other hand, is expected to benefit rail freight as well. Works will now continue north of Sant Vicen\u00e7 de Calders until the Castellbisbal node, which will unite the mixed gauge section to the standard gauge line going to France.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-60390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tarragona-Barcelona-rail-map-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"803\" height=\"691\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tarragona-Barcelona-rail-map-1.jpg 803w, https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tarragona-Barcelona-rail-map-1-480x413.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tarragona-Barcelona-rail-map-1-768x661.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 803px) 100vw, 803px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The green double line represents the mixed gauge line between Tarragona and Barcelona, with the dotted lines representing sections under construction. The blue double line represents high-speed standard gauge railways. The red line represents the Iberian gauge network. In the circle the Roda de Ber\u00e0 area. Image: \u00a9 Adif<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Tunnel closure disrupted traffic<\/h2>\n<p>Due to the works in the Roda de Ber\u00e0 tunnel, which started last October, traffic between Barcelona and Tarragona was disrupted for around five months. Many trains had to be cancelled throughout this period because of inadequate alternative routes. Some routes, for example, imposed length restrictions, while others required extra maneuvres, leading operators to incur in higher costs.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"readmore\">\n<div class=\"readmore-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/infrastructure\/2024\/10\/08\/disruptions-along-the-zaragoza-barcelona-axis-to-last-until-march\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Roda-de-Bera%CC%80-tunnel-scaled-e1728375783319-128x128.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"readmore-thumbnail\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-info\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/infrastructure\/2024\/10\/08\/disruptions-along-the-zaragoza-barcelona-axis-to-last-until-march\/\" class=\"readmore-title\">Disruptions along the Zaragoza-Barcelona axis to last until March<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rail traffic between Barcelona and Tarragona is back in full effect after the reopening of the Roda de Ber\u00e0 tunnel, where a mixed gauge (Iberian\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[343,15660,47,13803,1024],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-182326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infrastructure","category-mixed-gauge","category-rail-news","category-roda-de-bera","category-spain","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=182326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182782,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182326\/revisions\/182782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=182326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=182326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=182326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}