The focus will not be solely on high-speed passenger services: potential freight flows that could be routed onto a new rail corridor planned along Spain’s northern coast will also be assessed. Madrid’s Ministerio de Transportes (Ministry of Transport) has commissioned a €650,000 feasibility study to examine several options for high-capacity links between Bilbao, a port and industrial city in the Basque Country, and Santander in Cantabria, which also has a maritime and industrial economy. The study aims to assess different route options, which could integrate existing infrastructure alongside new sections to be built, possibly in functional phases.
The two cities in northern Spain are about 100 km apart, a relatively short distance. For this reason, the option of building only a high-speed passenger line has been ruled out, while freight transport has been included to such an extent that potential commercial flows must be assessed before route alternatives are defined. The first step will be to analyse demand for passenger services between the main locations, namely Bilbao, Castro-Urdiales, Laredo and Santander. During the same phase, the potential for freight transport will also be evaluated, paving the way for the definition of the route of the new rail link.
Freight transport is also central to another project involving the Basque Country and Cantabria: Bilbao’s southern bypass. The new infrastructure is intended to divert freight traffic away from urban areas on the left bank of the Nervión river in Bilbao, while improving rail access to the port and providing a more functional connection with the wider TEN-T corridor network. The future high-capacity link between Bilbao and Santander will, of course, connect with the Bilbao rail node. The new bypass is designed to handle freight train movements around the Basque city, with two separate connections: one to the Basque network built to European standard gauge, and the other to the Bilbao-Casetas line along the Ebro valley, built to the 1,668 mm Iberian broad gauge.
The focus on rail freight is not limited to these projects in the Basque Country. New developments are also planned in the autonomous community of Catalonia, where rail links with France are involved. In recent years, Spain has been carrying out a wide-ranging programme to upgrade its network so that it can play a full role in cross-border transport. This objective is reflected in the decision to adopt either European standard gauge, for new high-capacity lines, or dual gauge, in order to make the network fully interoperable.
For the first time, the Catalan authorities have made such a request to the French infrastructure manager Sncf Réseau to extend the mixed-gauge line between Perpignan, a key node in rail links between the two countries, and Béziers, a terminal halfway towards Montpellier, as an extension of the line from the Perthus border. This would create infrastructure capable of handling freight traffic without gauge restrictions deeper into French territory. The rail route linking Barcelona with Perpignan is part of the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor and is the main axis for Franco-Spanish freight transport.
Piermario Curti Sacchi
