The Perthus tunnel, the rail tunnel connecting France and Spain on the eastern side of the Pyrenees, is expecting booming traffic in the coming month. The amount of freight trains in the tunnel is supposed to double compared to a year earlier. The growth comes after the two countries agreed on a subsidy, reducing rail usage fees in the tunnel by 90 per cent.
The subsidies are supposed to come into force on 15 December, but projections indicate a strong uptick in cross-border rail transport through the tunnel. Spanish private rail association Faprove concludes that the subsidies are “having the expected effect.”
The tunnel’s managing company, LFP Perthus, expects 43 weekly roundtrips in December. That is an increase of 80 per cent compared to August. Compared to December 2023, it constitutes a growth of no less than 104 per cent. Not all of the growth can reportedly be attributed to the fee reduction, because some of the growth was already expected. However, says LFP Perthus, the subsidies helped accelerate the boost in traffic.
Mediterranean Corridor
For the coming year, LFP Perthus also has more registrations for international traffic. “The trend promises to intensify, also supported by other factors such as the future launch of the Mediterranean Corridor in international gauge beyond Barcelona, which will connect with Tarragona and Valencia”, Faprove says.
The reduction in the fees was announced in late September. At the time, LFP Perthus said that the decrease will continue over the medium and long-term. Tolls through the Perthus Tunnel were estimated at between 300 euros and 700 euros per freight train, LFP Perthus indicated last year.
“After the opening of the line two nights per week for freight trains, the possibility of making rolling stock maintenance facilities at LFP’s base in Llers in Spain available to rail undertakings and the introduction of incentive mechanisms, all conditions are now met to facilitate rail freight,” the company said when the 90 per cent reduction was announced. It seems that the tunnel’s optimism was justified.
The Perthus Tunnel
The two-tube, 8,3 kilometre-long Perthus Tunnel under the Eastern Pyrenees entered service in December 2010. Built to accommodate both freight trains and high-speed passenger traffic, it also facilitates full interoperability between eligible trains on the Spanish and French networks. The tunnel is mostly used for rail freight services. According to figures communicated to RailFreight.com by LFP Perthus, 727 freight trains passed through the tunnel in the first six months of the current year while for 2023 as a whole, the total was 1,404 freight trains.