There is a way for a truck to go from Italy to Madrid without spending a diesel euro. Mounting it on a train

From Italy to Madrid in truck but without stepping on the road. It is the concept of the railway highway that unites the transalpine country with the Spanish capital and that allows moving low -cost merchandise with a reduced impact on polluting emissions. A project that has already been tested in Spain but now seeks its extension even Portugal.

From Italy to Madrid. That is the route that the trucks moved by Tramesaa company that keeps an exceptional service in our country alive. Specifically, to put in Madrid some trucks with origin in Italy that on the road have hundreds of kilometers but have not spent a drop of diesel.

And it is that these trucks, as explained in The countryThey arrive at the Valencian port where they are collected by a huge crane that deposits them on a railway platform. The truck becomes a merchandise container that travels to Madrid railway. Already in the capital, return to the road to distribute the merchandise.

What is a railway highway? This system is what is known as a railway highway. That is, the use of railways to transport trucks that, in normal circumstances, should travel on the road. A system that, currently, is only active between Madrid and Valencia but wants to project to reach Portugal.

And makes sense? Yes, and a lot. First because it is a less polluting system. Adif calculates That using trucks as rail containers is almost five times less polluting than circulating along the road, which entails tire wear, brakes … and huge diesel consumption.

But, above all, it is interesting for the transport company. And the train trip can be done with or without a cabin. Without it, driver expenses is minimized since trucks travel alone on the train. In this way, the driver handles a tractor head at the origin, deposits the trailer there and a second conductor, already at destination, collects the merchandise with a second tractor head. In this way, the number of hours at the wheel and the distance traveled is drastically reduced.

The Spanish case. As we said, at the moment, the railway highway that connects the Valencian port with Madrid is the only one that is active. However, the system is not much less new. In the past we have already had similar attempts and, in fact, we must not retrieve far back in time.

In 2019, Renfe merchandise and VIIA, SNCF subsidiary, launched a service with up to six trains by direction and week between Barcelona and Bettembourg (Luxembourg). The project was canceled shortly after with the crisis of Coronavirus and reactivated in 2022. However, ended up closing operations A few months later.

In Trenvista They point out that this case is the last but not the only one we have had in our country. At the end of the 80s a railway highway between Madrid and Barcelona was also opened. However, an accident resulted in the closure of past two years.

In Europe. Outside our country, the transport of goods using railways is not new either. VIIA, the company that wanted to exploit the connection between Barcelona and Luxembourg, Keep active Four lines that explode exclusively and four other lines in collaboration with other operators.

Their business extends almost exclusively by France (they have one that ends in Italy) and most of them collect merchandise that arrives through the Eurotunnel, demonstrating the advantage of the system when combining large ports and cities with good rail connections.

In fact, it was in France where a railway highway began for the first time in 1936. After World War II, services would continue to be expanded with the services with the Alpine railway highway which is the one that crosses between France and Italy (already near Turin).

And in the future? At the moment it remains to be seen but from the institutions you are trying to close more projects. There are currently a total of 15 in progress that are in different phases.

In service with metric width we have Valencia-Madrid and underway you are already working on:

• Algeciras-Zaragoza
• Zaragoza-Tarragona
• Huelva-Madrid-Zaragoza
• Seville-Madrid-Zaragoza
• Valencia-Badajoz-Contrancamento (Portugal)
• Madrid-Badajoz-Contrancamento-Suporto (Portugal)

In study phase are:

• Tarragona-Barcelona
• Madrid-Valladolid-Burgos-Vitoria
• Murcia-Madrid
• Cádiz-Madrid
• Tamarite of Litera-Irún
• Zaragoza-Pamplona-Vitoria

In addition, a standard width is already underway between Barcelona and Le Perthus (France) and the following lines are projected:

• Murcia-Le Perthus (France)
• Tarragona-Le Perthus (France)
• Vitoria-Irún

Photo | Ministry of Transportation and Tramesa

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