Rail freight in Spain is still not in the position it would like to be, but there are some companies on the rise. This is the case of Medway, the rail freight subsidiary of MSC, which posted massive volume increases over the last quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
During the final quarter of last year, Medway registered growing numbers all across the board, according to data from the Spanish National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). The data takes into account tonne-kilometre, net tonnes and train-kilometre for both intermodal and block trains. In general, the growth for Medway in these three categories was 46,4 per cent, 30,6 per cent and 64,6 per cent.
The biggest development for Medway in Q4 2024 came in the block train segment. Here, the numbers said 96,4 per cent, 113,3 per cent and 197,2 per cent for the three categories compared to the last three months of 2023. Concerning intermodality, the company recorded a slightly less spiked growth, respectively 35,2 per cent, 7,2 per cent and 36,8 per cent.
Uneven trends for the rest
The CNMC report also included data for the other major rail freight players in Spain: state-owned Renfe Mercancías, Captrain, Continental, Transfesa. Moreover, the remaining companies were gathered in one group. Renfe Mercancías continued its downward trend both in the intermodal and block train services. For the three categories mentioned above, the public company recorded -13,7 per cent, -14,5 per cent and -5,9 per cent, with a stronger decline in the intermodal sector.
Captrain recorded positive numbers when it comes to tonne-kilometre (1,9 per cent) and net tonnes (11,6 per cent). On the other hand, train-kilometre decreased by 2,6 per cent. Continental did the exact opposite, with negative figures for tonne-kilometre (-11 per cent) and net tonnes (-6,2 per cent) but positive ones for train-kilometre (6,1 per cent). Transfesa, which operates the Madrid-Valencia rolling highway, followed Renfe Mercancías’ trend with negative numbers across the board (-13,3 per cent, -15,7 per cent and -15,9 per cent).
The remaining companies, grouped together by CNMC, had positive numbers for tonne-kilometre (3,2 per cent) and net tonnes (14 per cent), but negative ones for train-kilometre (-15,7 per cent).