By enabling the use of 750-metre trains, the IV Rail Module should raise the maximum capacity at the facility. The upgrade is also supposed to increase the number of trains handled per day by building new tracks. Verona Interporto currently has 37 main operational tracks and six support tracks across several terminals, as well as a shunting area.

The upgrade comes in expectation of the Brenner Base Tunnel opening – a vital link on the Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN-T corridor. This opens up new opportunities for international rail freight operations and an increase in traffic. The Verona Interporto hub is also located on the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor.

In other words, once the tests are completed, SEAT will have a direct connection to the rest of Europe without the need to transship goods from Iberian to standard gauge. So far, the tests saw a Class 130, used for high-speed passenger services. For two nights, the train travelled 60 times along the new infrastructure, Adif pointed out.

Port of Tarragona

For the port of Tarragona, located 100 kilometres south of Barcelona, the news is that it might be the first Spanish port fully connected to the TEN-T Mediterranean Corridor. This development, experts say, might give the port a competitive advantage over Barcelona and Valencia, for which a standard gauge connection will require more time.

In Tarragona, the line should become part of the Corridor by 2026, while the other two will have to wait until 2032 and 2027 respectively. This, as Spanish media Diari de Tarragona mentioned, was confirmed by the country’s ministry of transport during a meeting in Valencia. On the other hand, it needs to be mentioned that deadlines often shift, and so could these ones.

Cartagena will be linked up to the TEN-T network and central Spain. “The forecast is that everything will be ready by September of this year, a railway that will connect with the Mediterranean corridor and with the centre of Spain where a dry port is planned in Algodor, Aranjuez”, Hernández added.

Expansion

The port is also eyeing further expansion, with a new dock that could generate more container traffic, as well as green energy projects.

The eight newly ordered locomotives will reportedly be used on the Mediterranean Corridor, on connections between Spain and France. As of last year, Medway’s fleet consisted of 120 locomotives. A majority of them were electric, with 77 locomotives.

Last year, Medway said that its investments in rolling stock expansion could help renew Renfe Mercancías’ fleet as Medway becomes its private partner. Medway’s parent company MSC was selected to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the Spanish rail freight operator.

Additionally, it will assess a direct connection between the line and the Mediterranean Corridor. Such a connection is supposed to bypass Zaragoza, which would avoid ‘cargo breakdown problems’. Currently, cargo from Zaragoza heading to the Mediterranean Corridor around Barcelona makes use of two single-track lines on Iberian gauge.

France remains disinterested in the line

The Pau-Canfranc rail section runs through the Pyrenees between Spain and France, and is the westernmost rail crossing through the mountain range. It has been closed since 1970, after a freight train accident destroyed a bridge along the route.

For its part, Spain maintains the railway up to the French border and has invested millions in switching it to standard European gauge and upgrading the line for higher speeds and longer trains. On the French side, however, the railway has been neglected. France has shown a lack of commitment to the reopening of the line, regardless of EU support for such a reopening. Last year, the European Commission supported the project by granting 9,1 million euros for technical studies related to the line.

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No date has yet been set for the commencement of the infrastructure expansion and upgrades, but there is backroom talk of 2027 as the starting year, according to El Mercantil. In a few weeks, the first tender contracts are supposed to be awarded.

The funding for the 816 million euro investment will not solely come from the government. The Port of Barcelona has agreed to contribute around 200 million euros in financing. The remaining costs will be shared “more or less equally” between Adif and the government.

Long-awaited investments

The Catalan authorities have long insisted on such investments in the Barcelona port. Then-secretary for transport and infrastructure Isidre Gavín stated in 2022 that connecting the port of Barcelona to the Mediterranean Corridor is “not a necessity, but an urgency”.

Former Spanish minister of transport Raquel Sánchez concurred, saying that ports are “strategic for social cohesion and the construction of the country”. This is especially the case for the Barcelona port, she said: “It is a reference port in Asia to reach the south of France and the north of the Iberian Peninsula thanks to the Mediterranean Corridor. It is the engine of the Spanish economy and also of southern Europe.”

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“Today we are opening the construction process of an important project – the creation of the first European-gauge track from Chop to Uzhhorod. This project will also provide us with new logistical opportunities for freight transportation, and will relieve traffic checkpoints. Uzhhorod is becoming the first regional centre to be connected to Europe by a European-gauge railway”, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

European integration

Ukrainian Railways aims to finish the track within fourteen months. It will cost 31 million euros. The EU will cover half of the total costs of the project, after a bid by Ukrainian Railways won a selection competition.

Earlier, the EU and European Investment Bank developed a plan for rail integration between the EU and Moldova and Ukraine. The plan ultimately envisions a complete European gauge railway network in both countries.

As part of the efforts to improve rail connectivity between Ukraine and the EU, Ukraine started building a European-gauge track between Lviv and Poland earlier this year. According to the head of Ukrainian Railways, the company may extend the Uzhhorod track to Lviv at a later stage. This would allow Lviv to be connected with both the TEN-T Mediterranean corridor and the Rhine-Danube corridor.

Additionally, Ukraine and Poland have been looking to extend a broad gauge line further into Poland to streamline incoming rail traffic from Ukraine, and Ukraine has been building an intermodal terminal on the border with Romania to ease agricultural exports.

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Despite the diversion route not being too long and the 24-hour operation regime benefiting operators in terms of efficiency and avoiding substantial backlog, rail freight companies still have to deal with some issues. For example, METRANS, which operates lines in the region via its subsidiary Adria Rail, explained that services through the diversion routes will be more expensive. As a result, the company was forced to implement a de-tour surcharge of 75 euros per TEU.

Also read: Croatia: rail accident causes issues to Rijeka and Mediterranean Corridor

Accident reasons still unclear

Information from the Mediterranean Rail Freight Corridor also addressed the conditions under which the accident occurred. For reference, the freight train involved in the accident was operated by Rail Cargo Carrier-Croatia.

RCC’s director, Milan Brkić, explained after the accident that the train lost control due to a brake malfunction. Commenting to Croatian media, he said that the train “simply lost its brakes and moved out of control” from Meja-Škrljevo onwards. He also mentioned that the train driver communicated the situation on time through the radio.

The Mediterranean RFC said the freight train was required to stop at the Meja station, but it didn’t “for unknown reasons”. The organisation also underlined that the accident’s causes are unknown and that the investigation has not been concluded.

RCC’s director, Milan Brkić, explained that the train lost control due to a brake malfunction. His comments to Croatian media spoke of the train “simply losing its brakes and moving out of control” from Meja-Škrljevo onwards. He also mentioned that the train driver communicated the situation on time through the radio.

A source from HŽ Infrastruktura underlined that, ironically, this was the second railway accident occurring in the same railway section between Rijeka and Zagreb. The source also explained that a worse development was avoided due to the heroic intervention of a railway worker who jumped on the moving train and pulled the “valve of the main airline” to stop it forcibly.

Substantial damage

Thankfully, there were no casualties or serious injuries reported. However, the source from HŽ Infrastruktura spoke of substantial track damages that could potentially cause further traffic restrictions. No official damage assessment is in place yet, nor is the line’s closure timeframe known.

It should be noted that the Zagreb-Rijeka section on which the accident occurred is part of the Mediterranean Corridor and of the railway line connecting to the port of Rijeka. Information from HŽ Infrastruktura highlighted that more than 40 per cent of the total railway freight transport in Croatia takes place on this line.

“Considering that there’s significant damage to the rail tracks and other railway infrastructure, a longer interruption of traffic is to be expected,” highlighted the information. Considering that the disruption affects both a major port and rail freight corridor, the impact on all stakeholders involved, including the port, logistics and transport companies and the Infrastructure Manager himself, could be substantial and extended in terms of time length.

No information on costs or timetable yet

The initiative was made public a Memorandum of Understanding signed during an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the ZAI Consortium, an association for the development of the local economy. Other than ZAI, the other signatories were QETG and Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). It is not yet clear how this project will be financed or its timetable. However, last week, the Italian Ministry of Transport made available 11 million euros for the development of some intermodal terminals, including the Quadrante Europa which should get one million.

Another step towards the Brenner Base Tunnel

The railway line passing through Verona is the only one leading to the main border crossing between Italy and Austria: the Brenner Pass. Here, the Brenner Base Tunnel is expected to open in 2032, which will significantly reduce transit time and increase capacity along this axis. For this purpose, Italy is also working on the Trento bypass, closer to the border with Austria. This project, which should be commissioned in 2026, will provide access to the Brenner Base Tunnel on the Italian side.

The Quadrante Europa intermodal terminal

In 2022, the Quadrante Europa handled 15,010 trains, the vast majority of which, 13,814, were intermodal. This amounted to 780,802 TEUs and over eight million tonnes of cargo. The whole facility covers an area of 2,5 million square metres and, according to its website, is the first in Italy when it comes to combined transport volumes. Currently, the majority of the goods are moved by road, roughly 20 million yearly tonnes, while only eight go via rail. The projects included in the MoU are thus expected to boost the modal shift and decongest the very busy roads of Veneto and the rest of northern Italy. The facility can count on various national and international connections. Domestically, it has links to Bari, Brindisi, Nola, and Giovinazzo in the south, and Genoa and La Spezia in the north. Most of the international connections are to Germany, including Cologne, Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, Lubeck, Hannover, Hamburg, Kiel, Wanne, Rostock, and Munich. Other international connections are Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Padborg.

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