A new rail terminal has been inaugurated in Fuenlabrada, just south of Madrid. The facility offers an intermodal road-rail connection to Spain’s large ports. It specialises in semi-manufactured and temperature-controlled goods and food.
The Fuenlabrada terminal, operated by Athos Rail, is located on a plot of 19,000 square metres. It has two rail platforms and can store more than 300 containers. While the terminal is now officially inaugurated, its location allows for a future expansion by 22,000 square metres.
According to a consulting partner of the terminal’s operator, the intermodal terminal has direct rail connections to major ports in Spain and Portugal via Iberian gauge rail. Moreover, it is located next to major arterial roads. The location provides the terminal with “fantastic connectivity with the national rail and road network,” according to the consulting partner.
The director of Athos Rail stated that the new terminal provides a unique service in its area of operations. It specialises in semi-manufactured and temperature-controlled goods and food. “This is the only infrastructure with these characteristics that currently exists in Spain.” With an important logistical and industrial centre within a 10-kilometre range, the new terminal hopes to capture up to 4 per cent of containers that are transported via existing road infrastructure in the area.
Enthusiasm
According to José Antonio Sebastián, the government commissioner for the so-called “Atlantic Corridor”, has reacted to the inauguration with enthusiasm. “A terminal of this type was needed in Madrid,” he said. The commissioner also added that “we will see the reality of a very dynamic railway sector in our country in a few years.”
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