The new Llagosta terminal will receive its first freight train in early January

BarcelonaFifteen kilometers from Barcelona, a strategic logistics hub for international rail freight is being developed, addressing a long-standing need for Catalan businesses. The new terminal in La Llagosta is not yet fully completed, but it is about to reach a significant milestone. In the first days of next year, the facility will receive its first train, arriving from Antwerp, Belgium. This will mark the completion of the first phase of the terminal's modernization, which has involved an investment of over €123 million by Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure manager). Together with Combiconnect, the company awarded the terminal's concession, Adif will begin operations at the facility, with the aim of refining processes and validating operations before it becomes fully operational. The testing period at La Llagosta will begin on Wednesday, January 7th, with the arrival of the fully loaded train from Antwerp. Containers and semi-trailers will be unloaded at the terminal, and others will be loaded so the train can return to the Belgian city. According to Adif sources, following this initial test, the terminal will gradually increase its activity in the coming months.

Before the works, which began in late 2022, La Llagosta primarily handled car traffic and could only operate on Iberian gauge track, with container traffic playing a minor role. The first phase of the project involved connecting the terminal to mixed gauge (international and Iberian) via a third rail that connects to the Mollet-El Papiol railway line, used by the R7 and R8 commuter rail lines. This line connects the terminal to the Castellbisbal interchange, a key component of the Mediterranean Corridor, and to the Port of Barcelona, ​​which is undergoing a transformation to increase rail traffic and handle all the containers it receives. In fact, with the opening of the new terminal, the port will gain rail capacity for maritime traffic, as operations currently carried out at the Morrot terminal will be transferred to La Llagosta, thus relieving congestion at port access points. The second phase of the works remains pending, with no schedule or budget yet. This stage will consist of commissioning the standard-gauge tracks that will connect to the high-speed line linking Barcelona to the French border. Once operational, trains like the one arriving from Antwerp in a few weeks will be able to travel directly to La Llagosta, instead of having to do what they will have to do now: stop in Mollet, the furthest point the standard-gauge track can reach from France, before taking the mixed-gauge tracks towards La Llagosta.

Capacity for 2,600 trains

With its focus on rail transport, the terminal, located in a major industrial area and very close to the AP-7 motorway, will replace trucks with trains, facilitating the transshipment of goods and accommodating more containers. "It reflects a long-term commitment to strengthening intermodal transport and supporting more sustainable logistics solutions," says Combiconnect, which will operate the terminal for a period of twenty years, extendable for up to another twenty. The Llagosta terminal has an area of 105,400 square meters, with an intermodal freight terminal of 85,200 square meters. When the new logistics platform is fully operational, it will be able to receive up to 2,600 trains. For Combiconnect, a temporary joint venture formed by Hupac Ibérica and TPNOVA, "Spain is an emerging and rapidly growing market for intermodal transport, with an increasing need for modern and well-connected transshipment infrastructure." Currently, rail transport accounts for 4% of national passenger traffic, with the aim of reaching 10% by 2030. The winning bidder has invested €20 million in the terminal's construction.