Port de Barcelona and Adif create a joint venture to boost freight transport

New step forward for Train Port Barcelona, the company formed by Port de Barcelona and Adif to promote freight transport. The new company was constituted this Wednesday before a notary. According to Port de Barcelona, the joint venture will be "key in the cooperation between both administrations for the development and management of the railway logistics hub of the Barcelona metropolitan area, it will contribute to promoting railway freight transport in the Mediterranean corridor and its area of influence, as well as international transport." The scope of action includes the Can Tunis railway complex, the intermodal and logistics terminal of La Llagosta, the intermodal terminal of Port de Barcelona, and the intermodal terminal of the railway highway.

For Port de Barcelona, the creation of this company is a significant milestone, moving from collaboration between institutions to cooperation and co-responsibility in railway-port management to achieve maximum efficiency in environmental, connectivity, and competitiveness terms. The initiative, it emphasizes, is a pioneer in this field, considering that it innovates in infrastructure management and will foster synergies and learning in an activity that will contribute to the social and economic development of the country.

The partners of Train Port Barcelona will work in a coordinated manner in the planning and development of these infrastructures, the optimization of investments, and the efficient management of resources to achieve more competitive services. The new company also aims to become the interlocutor with railway operators and ferro-port terminals to offer a quality service to the end customer.

The constitution of Train Port Barcelona, whose presidency is held by Port de Barcelona, was contemplated in the collaboration protocol to promote the construction of the new southern accesses, road and rail, of Port de Barcelona, signed in October 2020 by the Ministry of Public Works, today the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the Generalitat, Adif, Puertos del Estado, and Port de Barcelona.

Specifically, the company will manage and operate the Barcelona Ferroport Management Center (CGFB), where the provision of services between the Can Tunis station and the railway terminals of the Port of Barcelona are planned and coordinated. Likewise, it will assume the management of shunting services and train operations. In addition, Train Port Barcelona will build and operate the future intermodal terminal of the Port of Barcelona for a period of 50 years, under a public domain concession. The facilities (13.8 ha) represent an investment of 22 million euros and will have a four-track yard, two gantry cranes and a container storage area.

The company will also operate the intermodal and logistics terminal of La Llagosta under a lease for a period, also, of 50 years. The global transformation of this terminal, located 20 km from the port, foresees an investment of 25 million euros in a first phase. The facility will have a four-track yard, two gantry cranes and a 14.5 ha container storage area. Finally, Train Port Barcelona will be part of the shareholding of the future railway highway terminal, with a minority stake, which will be built in the old bed of the Llobregat river.