The La Llagosta logistics node, located to the north of Barcelona, already has a manager for the coming decades. The companies Hupac Ibérica and TPNova Rail & Logistic Services have been awarded this new ‘hub’ called to consolidate the transport of goods by rail. The facility will be able to receive 750-meter-long merchandise exchanges from Europe and has been transformed by Adif with an investment of more than 97 million euros to adapt it to European merchandise standards.
Both Companies, Allies with the Commitment to Form a Temporary Business Union (UTE) Will Operate the Terminal in the Second Quarter of 2025. They Will Do It For A Minimum Period Of 20 Years – Expandable Another 20 – After Awarding The Lease Contract For 19.2 million and promise another 12 million in improvement investments.
The Swiss Hupac is one of the major European rail operators, which already has regular traffic from the continent to Barcelona and has substantially increased its presence in recent years, to the point of demanding better infrastructure to continue attracting freight by train. . For its part, TPNova, based in Madrid, is a logistics operator with a presence in more than fifty railway terminals in the main countries of Western Europe.
A strategic terminal due to its location
This new terminal is strategic in nature since it is located at a key point in the so-called ‘Mediterranean Corridor’, and it will be the gateway to France and the arrival of European goods in Spain. Located 15 kilometers from the city of Barcelona, La Llagosta is configured as a high-capacity, sustainable and efficient interoperable node, connected in standard (European) gauge to the high-speed network between Barcelona and France, and in mixed gauge (Iberian and standard) to the El Papiol-Mollet line, in both cases from the Mollet bifurcation.
With more than 105,000 square meters, the La Llagosta terminal will allow 85,200 m2 to be allocated to intermodal cargo, facilitating the transfer of large-volume goods to the railway. The facility has nine tracks of 740 meters, four of them for cargo, UTI handling and other services linked to merchandise logistics. The remaining 19,800 m2 are dedicated to offices and other uses. In addition, Adif makes available to the successful bidder another area of 59,000 m2, a 750-meter road and several access roads to the area.
The definitive configuration of the terminal will make it possible to have a beach of reception and dispatch routes with more than 750 meters in length, mounted in mixed gauge and electrified at 3,000 volts. In the future, the train accesses to the terminal will be remodeled with a new standard gauge connection to the high-speed line or the southern connection to the Cercanías network.
Among the companies that entered the competition was Renfe, which participated in the competition for this new terminal hand in hand with the German state operator Deutsche Bahn (through its subsidiary Kombiverkehr) and Duisport, the manager of the largest inland port in the world. , that of Duisburg. The agreement contemplated the constitution of a temporary union of companies (UTE) where Renfe would hold 50% of the capital, and the other two companies 25% each, without having been elected.
