The Central Government plans to authorize the creation of the state company Train Port Barcelona at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, which will be 50% owned by the public rail infrastructure manager Adif and 50% owned by the Port of Barcelona. She will be in charge of the development and management of the railway logistics node in the metropolitan area of the Catalan capital.
The establishment of the company was foreseen in the collaboration protocol to promote the construction of the new southern, road and rail accesses to the port of Barcelona, drawn up in October 2020 by the Ministry of Public Works, the Generalitat of Catalonia, Adif, Ports of the State and the port of Barcelona, and receives the green light after months of work taking into account the draft of its actions. It is expected that its launch, approved at the initiative of the Ministries of Transport and Finance, will give a strong boost to the transport of goods and the Mediterranean corridor.
The Government of Pedro Sánchez considers this logistic node to be key to promoting the rail transport of goods in the axis of the Mediterranean Sea and its large area of influence, and also for international transport. The scope of action includes the Can Tunis railway complex, the Llagosta Intermodal and Logistics Terminal, the Port of Barcelona Intermodal Terminal and the Railway Highway Intermodal Terminal or ferroutage.
Once established, Adif and the port of Barcelona will have to work in a coordinated manner in the planning and development of these infrastructures, the optimization of investments and the management of resources. The aim of the Central Government is for Train Port Barcelona to also become the interlocutor for railway operators and railway terminals.
Specifically, the company will manage and operate the Barcelona Railway Management Center (CGFB), where the planning and coordination of the provision of services between the Can Tunis goods transport terminal and the railway terminals of the port of Barcelona is carried out. It will also assume the provision of shunting services and train operations.
On the other hand, it will operate the future Intermodal Terminal of the port of Barcelona for a period of 50 years, under a public domain concession regime. The facilities (of 13.8 hectares) will represent an investment of 22 million euros and will have a four-lane beach, two gantry cranes and a container storage area.
The company will also operate the Llagosta Intermodal and Logistics Terminal under a lease also for a period of 50 years. The global transformation of this terminal, located 20 km from the port, has an investment of 25 million in a first phase. The facility will have a four-lane beach, two gantry cranes and a 14.5 hectare container storage area.
In addition, Train Port Barcelona will form part of the shareholders of the future Autopista Ferroviària terminal, with a minority stake, which will be built on the old course of the Llobregat river.
Recently, the port has started the preliminary works of the new accesses and the railway terminals of its dependency on these lands. Work has begun almost a year after the port approved the award.
