It has been awarded the REIF Shift to Regional Rail prize for its commitment to the development of an intermodal strategy

Aurelio Martínez highlights the railway investments that the port community is carrying out “to position ourselves as a reference port in the Mediterranean based on intermodality”

The goods arriving or leaving the Port of Valencia represent 11% of the total, a percentage which is three times the average share of what is transported in Spain by train

The new northern container terminal, which is expected to handle a daily average of 10 trains, will give an additional boost to rail traffic in the Port of Valencia

The award is promoted by the Italian Institute for Transport and Logistics (ITL) through the REIF project, financed by the European Union’s Interreg Central Europe programme

 Valenciaport’s commitment to develop an intermodal model where the railway will be a key element in the coming years has been recognised with the European award REIF -Shift to Regional Rail- granted by the Institute of Transport and Logistics of Italy (ITL). The jury has valued the ‘high level of commitment in the development of an intermodal strategy, in which the synergy between maritime and rail traffic is the key to improve the logistics chain for all actors operating in the port community through digitisation and innovation’.

The president of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Aurelio Martínez, thanked for this recognition that “reaffirms the line of action that we have been carrying out for years to promote and increase the use of trains in the port area and in our hinterland”. A strategy that includes investments worth 240 million euros to improve the railway network such as the Zaragoza-Teruel-Sagunto-Valencia line, favouring connections with its area of influence, transforming the interior network of the ports of Valencia and Sagunto, the electrification of tracks or supporting innovative projects in intermodal transport, all in collaboration with other public and private institutions. These actions have made it possible for more than 4,000 trains to be managed at Valenciaport in 2021, with an average of 80 per week operated by 10 different railway companies that link with the main corridors in Spain: Central, Mediterranean and Cantabrian. In fact, goods imported or exported from Valenciaport by rail represent 11 percent of the total traffic, a percentage that almost triples the average share of what is transported in Spain by train, which stands at 4 percent.

The aim of Valenciaport is to keep on increasing the use of the railway in freight traffic with origin and destination in Valenciaport through the corridors and the promotion of dry ports and loading areas in their surroundings. The actions already implemented or planned by the Valencia Port Authority are helping to promote the shift of freight from road to rail and are inspiring other ports and regions at national and European level. These actions will continue in the coming years to increase this share of intermodal transport. Thus, for example, the new container terminal to be built in the northern extension of the Port of Valencia plans to increase rail traffic by 300,000 TEU per year and an average of ten trains per day, in which rail will have a 30% share of inland traffic. Moreover, the APV is an active part of the new Iberian gauge railway motorway that will link Valencia with Madrid, the main commercial asset with the Valencian enclosure. In fact, 160,000 containers are taken off the road to be transported by rail to Madrid, which accounts for 80% of this traffic in the Port of Valencia.

The award is promoted by the Institute of Transport and Logistics (ITL) through the REIF project, financed by the European Union’s Interreg Central Europe programme, which highlights all the actions that promote the transport of goods by rail.