The company Tramesa, allied with the Italian group Transitalia, plans to transport more than 10,000 trucks per year by train in convoys that will thus avoid having to travel along the road that links Valencia and Madrid. The project that will transport goods between Italy and the Spanish capital was announced seven months ago and today – after the corresponding testing process – it has been officially launched in the port of Valencia.
The President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, and the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, have spoken at an event attended by the main authorities and the most qualified representatives of the Valencian business community.
This first maritime-railway highway in Spain is a public-private collaboration project
This first maritime-railway highway in Spain is a public-private collaboration project promoted by the Port Authority of Valencia, which has invested more than 20 million euros for this new combined transport terminal.
The infrastructure will not only improve the efficiency of the transfer of goods between Valencia and Madrid, but will also act as a strategic bridge to Europe, as it will link the capital of Spain with Italy. Thus, this motorway allows the rail transport of semi-trailers of trucks from Italy by sea, loading them onto a train when they arrive at the Port of Valencia, thus avoiding traffic on Spanish roads and its CO2 emissions.
With this infrastructure we will unite what goes faster by sea and what is more sustainable by land, connecting Valencia with Italy and Italy with Spain”
The maritime-rail highway includes a frequency of four outbound and four return trains per week, with four semi-trailers per train. It is expected to load more than 10,000 trucks per year onto the train, easing road traffic. The estimated reduction in greenhouse gases per semi-trailer on the Valencia-Madrid route is calculated at 85%.
Mazón has highlighted the commitment that the Port of Valencia is making to “increase the use of railways in its facilities to reduce emissions and fight climate change” and has stressed that the “future of logistics, so important for our industry, depends on this type of initiative”.
The Valencia-Madrid maritime-railway motorway begins operation in the Port of Valencia.
The President has referred to public-private collaboration as a fundamental aspect to guarantee the new pioneering service in Spain, which will contribute to achieving the objective of increasing the transport of all goods by rail to 10% by 2030, compared to the current 4%.
“With this infrastructure we will unite what is faster by sea and what is more sustainable by land, connecting Valencia with Italy and Italy with Spain,” he said, insisting on “the environmental benefits, as well as the economic benefits for the Valencian Community and all its citizens.”
“Saving kilometres means saving emissions and accidents,” said Minister Óscar Puente
Minister Puente has defended the key role of rail motorways and multimodal transport in removing trucks from the road and promoting more sustainable and competitive transport and logistics.
The Minister of Transport has highlighted the “high economic and social return” that the Madrid-Valencia railway motorway will generate, since by loading 10,000 trucks a year onto the train it will capture a substantial part of the road freight traffic between the port of Valencia and Madrid.
According to him, each frequency of the Valencia-Madrid railway highway will absorb 28,000 km of heavy road traffic per day. This is combined with an annual saving of more than 7 million euros in external costs (accidents, noise, pollution, congestion, urban effects, etc.), and a reduction in emissions of more than 16,000 tons of CO2. “Saving kilometres means saving emissions and accidents,” said the minister.
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Source: www.lavanguardia.com
