There is three milestones keys in the construction of the railway highway (AF) between Algeciras and Zaragoza which already directly affect the activity of improving the railway infrastructure that crosses the province of Cordoba. This concerns the award of the drafting of the project for the complete renovation of the conventional line between Villa del Río and Palma del Río, as well as the call for tenders for the contract for the renovation of 13 tunnels between Córdoba and Santa Cruz de Mudela and the commissioning of the development of the project for several stations in the province of Córdoba to adapt their tracks to the 750 useful meters that freight trains need to use these stops.
He central branch of the Mediterranean corridor (as this infrastructure is commonly called) and Atlántico is a vital investment to exploit the full logistical potential of Córdoba, one of its main nodes being the Córdoba freight station (El Higuerón). It is for this reason that politicians, businessmen and unions in the province are persistently demanding it, because of the clearly positive effect it can have on the provincial economy.
Concretely, the Algeciras-Zaragoza rail highway offers the possibility of transporting trucks and semi-trailers from port of Algeciras (also from the ports of Huelva, Seville and Malaga) to any point in Europe via Córdoba, with notable savings in the economic costs of transporting goods (seven times less by train than by road) and environmental costs (reduces the carbon footprint five times).
This year the Spanish Government has promoted three actions that directly affect the territory of Córdoba for the commissioning of the railway highway between the port of Algeciras and the Zaragoza Plaza logistics platform. The first impulse came with the award of the contract for the writing of the complete renovation of the Villa del Río-Palma del Río line106.4 kilometers. This renovation concerns roads that are or will be used for both passenger and freight transport. The local train is a current example of the use of this line for travelers.
However, with its renewal, its jump will be qualitative for goods, since this line serves as a passage for two railway highways: Algeciras-Zaragoza and Huelva-Cordoba. The first will connect the port of Algeciras, the main European port, to the rest of Europe. In addition, it will also allow access from the port of Malaga. The second will be used to ensure that goods from the ports of Huelva and Seville arrive at the El Higuerón node.
In this case, the government awarded the projects a total amount of 7.4 million euros. The renovation of the Villa del Río-Palma del Río line has been divided into two subsections. The Villa del Río-Bifurcación de Córdoba Mercancías, 56.7 kilometers long, awarded to Ayesa for 4 million euros; and the Córdoba Mercancías-Palma del Río branch, 49.7 kilometers long and awarded to Geisa for 3.4 million.
Infographic of current actions of AF Algeciras – Zaragoza
The second action of the Government, through the Administrator of Railway Infrastructure (ADIF), relevant in Cordoba for the future commissioning of the Algeciras-Zaragoza railway highway, is the call for tenders for a contract for the renovation of 13 tunnelswith an overall distance of 3.5 kilometers, on the route between Algeciras and Madrid. The cost of this work is 29.7 million euros. The specific intervention will be carried out in the tunnels of the line between Córdoba and Santa Cruz de Mudela. In fact, this affects a tunnel in our province which is located at Montoro. It will also renew another in Ciudad Real and eleven passing through Jaén.
The third intervention of the Algeciras-Zaragoza AF which has a translation on the soil of Córdoba is the development of the project of adaptation of four railway stations in the province so that they have a length of 750 meters, the minimum required by the freight trains which will be loaded on this infrastructure. In this case, the Station expansion is planned in Montilla, Fernán Núñez, Puente Genil and Pedro Abad.
global action
To all this, we must add a relevant parallel fact. In this case, executed by the Junta de Andalucía. The Andalusian Executive has launched the third phase of expansion of the logistics park it owns in El Higuerón. This last part of the action implies that the logistics center will also be connected by rail to the station. Goods from El Higuerónwhich will become the Córdoba hub within AF Algeciras-Zaragoza and AF Huelva-Córdoba.
The Mediterranean corridor has a total length of more than 6,000 kilometers. It is one of the key corridors that the European Union has launched to promote transport intermodality with ports, airports, stations and roads, with a decisive commitment to train due to its cost and of its environmental savings. This corridor, the central branch of which will pass through Cordoba, crosses six countries: Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary to end at the border with Ukraine.
For Córdoba, investment in the Algeciras-Zaragoza highway is essential, as it would connect it by train to the rest of Europe and by boat with the rest of the world via the port of Algeciras. In this sense, this rail highway has a length of 1,074 kilometers. The investment will be very close to or exceed a billion, which gives dimension to its importance. The most significant intervention will be the adaptation of 43 tunnels, 131 viaducts and up to 174 structures along the route. To all this, we must add the adaptation of the stations throughout the route to 750 meters, the consolidation of slopes, the improvement of signaling, communication, electrification or even the change of tracks, sleepers and ballast.
In this sense, there are two fundamental stages in the overall investment in Spain to develop this railway highway. On the one hand, the Central Executive allocated 472 million euros to renew and adapt the Bobadilla-Algeciras line, the most complex due to its absolute obsolescence. Today, transport and ADIF They have already committed more than 70 percent of the budget to the work needed for this section.
The other important step is the investment effort in the rest of the Algeciras-Zaragoza railway highway. From Bobadilla to the capital of Aragon, in March the government launched another investment plan to renew the road and adapt it to the needs of other goods transport. 468 million euros. In this case, current contracts already reach 65% of the planned investment.
More advanced to the north
The start of the necessary actions in the province contrasts with the progress of these infrastructures in other parts of the route. The greatest progress and the first made, partly because of their worst starting state, were the interventions in the Bobadilla-Algeciras section (176 kilometers) and also in the Zaragoza-Madrid.
Inside Bobadilla-Algecirasthe 472 million planned have already been used to complete the almost complete renovation of the road. The last investment was the allocation of 52.8 million to the Tecsa-Dragados joint venture for the renewal of the entire line of the Bobadilla-Ronda subsection (43 kilometers of the 176). The other subsection Ronda-Algeciras has completed the works of Ronda-San Pablo, the first part completed and the second part of San Pablo-Almoraima contracted and those of Almoraima-Algeciras are ready.
Algeciras Port Freight Station
The renewal of this line also involves the installation of the third rail in the port of Algeciras, double in the rest (with the exception of a minimum section of single track impossible to duplicate because it crosses a gorge without more space), electrification, signaling, telecommunications and expansion of sidings.
In the investment plan of 468 million euros between Bobadilla and Zaragoza, the crown goes to the expenses incurred by the Government since March on the Zaragoza-Madrid section. In this case, he granted 107 million for the adaptation of the gauges 26 tunnels and 40 viaducts across the provinces of Madrid, Guadalajara, Soria and Zaragoza. Also 9 million for the dividers of 750 useful meters of track in the stations of Arcos de Jalón (Soria) and Sigüenza (Guadalajara) from the 13 in which an intervention will be carried out on the route between Madrid and Zaragoza. On Thursday, two more were put up for tender in the territory of Alcarreño for 26 million: in Jadraque and Humanes de Mohedano. There is an additional 20 million for the supply of rails and sleepers.
In this case, the investment commitment exceeds 65 percent (315 million out of 468 loans) with the call for tenders for the adaptation of the 13 tunnels between Córdoba and Santa Cruz de Mudela of the Alcázar de San Juan-Cádiz line, through which part of the Algeciras-Zaragoza AF will pass.
The latest development of the macroproject concerns the renewal of the Bobadilla-Algeciras line to continue its adaptation to the rail highway. In this case, the Government authorized on Monday a call for tenders for 64.7 million to stabilize the 7 kilometers of slopes in Almargen (Málaga) and adaptation of the template of 21 additional tunnels.
The Algeciras-Zaragoza railway highway which will pass through Córdoba will have 12 daily trips. There will be three daily trips between Algeciras and Zaragoza and three others in the opposite direction for trucks whose origin or destination is in Morocco. There will be two trains (one in each direction) between Huelva and Zaragoza, with trucks from the origin or destination to Canary Islands. There will also be four daily trips (two in each direction) between Zaragoza and the port of Seville and the rest of Andalusia (mainly Malaga).
More than 12,000 kilometers will be traveled daily by train by trucks or semi-trailers, allowing these heavy goods vehicles to travel up to 360,000 kilometers on the road, thereby reducing their transport time and costs. The mission is to transport up to 360 trucks per day.
To reach the rest of Europe, the Algeciras-Zaragoza AF is already being expanded from the capital of Aragon to Tarragona, where it will connect directly to the main advanced Mediterranean corridor. From there it would arrive in Barcelona to cross Europe via France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary. During this journey, the runner It is connected to the rest of the European rail corridors.
