It has gone through several ups and downs and has barely improved (3.6%) despite the arrival of private operators in 2007, whose weight in travel reaches 41%
The injection of European funds may eventually lead to the achievement of what has seemed a national utopia for more than five years, in contrast to the reality it entails in the EU: that rail freight will begin to take off so that is seen as a reliable alternative to its road competitors. In fact, the sector’s main ambition is to achieve true intermodality, as is the case in other countries on the continent.
At the end of March, Brussels gave the green light to a direct aid plan proposed by the government to promote the movement of loads from road to rail with the aim of reducing polluting emissions. It has 120 million euros from the community treasury and will run until June 2026, with subsidies, the amount of which will depend on the volume of goods moving from truck to train and traffic.
This is intended to give a boost to an industry that has been lagging behind for nearly a decade. In 2021, the modal share of land transport was 3.6% (measured in net tons per kilometre), five times less than the European average (18%). It was also the lowest record since 2011, and closely resembles a 2020 marked by the pandemic. The best fiscal year for rail freight was 2014 – the first private companies arrived in 2007 – and yet this share did not exceed 5.1%, while the turnover of the companies active in it amounted to almost 313 million euros compared to 265 million last year (almost two-thirds come from Renfe), according to operator estimates.
Despite this background, the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management believes that its Goods 30 program can be realized, which aims to achieve a 10% market share for this type of rail by 2030, which amounts to an almost threefold increase (2.7 times more) of the last official record. In reality, the target is again set by Brussels – it also monitors slow progress in the Mediterranean corridors (to reach Almería) and the Atlantic Ocean (to Algeciras), also financed with EU capital – which demands that 2050 a balancing 50% of the weight in this type of transport between trains and trucks.
To even come close to that first goal, it will be necessary to greatly increase the public investment resulting in the sector. Germany has doubled it in railway infrastructure and rolling stock in the past decade, France has tripled it and Denmark has multiplied it by five, according to the Railway Observatory’s latest annual report. That is why the government plans to allocate nearly €8,000 million in the current decade, the majority through European funds for the recovery from the crisis caused by Covid, known as Next Generation.
The main lines of action are the promotion of intermodality – including adaptation to the European gauge – modernization of distribution hubs – in Spain and Portugal there are a thousand unused or obsolete industrial branches – improvement of connections between port railways – almost half of freight train traffic has an origin or destination in the ports, in particular Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao – transform the unloading terminals – the rail manager Adif will invest nine million in extending the sidings to 750 meters in different stations – and increase digitization – the strong growth of electronic commerce is another business opportunity–. Aid is also planned for the operating companies, which according to the latest competition report (CNMC) are “very pessimistic” about the situation in this market.
However, the Association of Private Rail Operators (AEFP) fears that many will turn to the still-dominant public operator – which they have sued the CNMC over the high rents of their rolling stock – despite its gradual weight loss. According to Adif, the share of 71% that Renfe Mercancías had in 2016 (in accumulated train kilometres) has fallen to 59% in 2021, despite benefiting indirectly from the decline of private companies in 2020.
A dozen rail operators are active in this market, where a subsidiary of the French public group SNCF is trying to gain ground and the Chinese shipping giant Cosco – with a lot of weight in container transport in the ports of Valencia and Bilbao – has taken over the Logitren operator. That is why Renfe has intensified its search for one or more strategic, industrial or financial partners and has purchased twelve new electric locomotives.
The Mediterranean Corridor that should connect Almería to the French border – the forecast of the EU, which is promoting it politically and financially, will reach Hungary –, both for rail traffic of people and for goods, will be “by the year 2026 at the latest”. is the “commitment” announced by the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, at the end of 2021, which was in line with what she already said in November to about 1,300 businessmen who gathered in Madrid and very much complained about a delay in these works exceeding 15 year.
“Seven presidents of different political colors have passed through the government and the process is still not finished here,” Mercadona president Juan Roig strongly criticized. He is one of the great proponents of the project, along with several major companies such as CaixaBank, BP Spain, Porcelanosa, Pamesa, J. García Carrión, Boluda, Baleària and Casa Tarradellas, among others.
The big claim is to build a railway corridor parallel to the Mediterranean coast with a double platform – used by the AVE – in international track. This would facilitate transport flows with the rest of the EU – companies from these Spanish regions account for more than 50% of the country’s exports – while strengthening major projects such as the Volkswagen giga factory in Sagunto for the production of electric car batteries. .
It is expected that for every euro invested in the works on this infrastructure, the final cost of which will exceed €20,000 million, there will be a return of €3.5 in national GDP. In the 2021 Budgets, 1,982 million was spent on it and a further 1,710 million this year.
The works have progressed further between Barcelona and Alicante, in contrast to significant delays in the Andalusia sections. In fact, there are fears of a delay and in the sector there is even talk of 2030 to end the entire project. Nevertheless, the minister emphasizes: “The deadline is fixed.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
