Combi Terminal Catalonia and the Port of Tarragona sign a memorandum of understanding to invest in and operate the Intermodal Terminal of La Boella

The agreement establishes the firm commitment to intermodality and the transport of goods by rail

The company expects to commence activity once the Mediterranean corridor reaches Tarragona and move traffic of up to 118,000 UTIs per year in the first 4 years of operation

With this alliance, CTC and the Port of Tarragona join forces to concentrate intermodal services at the Boella Terminal

The President of the Port of Tarragona, Josep M Cruset, and Antoni Torà Executive representative of the company Combi Terminal Catalonia SL (CTC) gave a press conference to announce the joint agreement to invest into and operate the Intermodal Terminal of la Boella, located in the port near the Cantabria and Andalusia docks.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Port of Tarragona and CTC includes the company's interest in operating the Intermodal Terminal of La Boella as a concession with the aim of jointly promoting the logistical competitiveness of the Tarragona area, taking advantage of the synergies between the Port of Tarragona and the industry in the Camp de Tarragona region, as well as the hinterland.

The spirit of the agreement is to operate according to European intermodal standards, in terms of volumes and weight of transport units.

Benefiting from existing infrastructure at the Port of Tarragona, CTC has decided not to install a new intermodal terminal at BASF premises in La Canonja, but to join forces with the Port of Tarragona in order to build on existing infrastructure at the port itself, specifically, La Boella Intermodal Terminal. The two institutions have forged this alliance that shall provide the region with a more sustainable transport project, in every sense.

La Boella Intermodal Terminal

Currently in operation, La Boella Intermodal Terminal, located within the Port's facilities, is very well prepared for the future of the railway sector in the Camp de Tarragona region. Not only because it is the only terminal ready to operate with 750-metre trains and standard gauge rails, but also because it is a reality and has room to double its current capacity, if needed in the future.

Although the Tarragona area is a net exporting region and there is still a long way to go in the area of road-to-rail intermodality with rail traffic currently representing only 5% of total domestic traffic in Spain, the size of the regional economy does not foresee the need for the construction of new railway terminals beyond the current facilities, whether public or private, especially taking into account the space available for the enlargement of the La Boella facility.

The terminal is strategically located within the Port, at the main logistics and regional transport node next to the south petrochemical complex south of Tarragona, the largest in southern Europe. In fact, Tarragona and its port is considered one of the "cores" in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

Current road and rail connectivity include the following main connections, either leaving the port directly or within reach.

By road:

· AP7 and A7 – Convoys along the MED coast (Barcelona-Valencia).

· A27 – From the port, connecting Lleida, Zaragoza and Madrid.

· T11-N420 – To southern Aragon and Castile, ending in the Ciudad Real/Puertollano chemical complex

By rail:

· Nexus between the Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona lines.

· Northbound standard gauge (mixed) expected for 2022

Ready for operation

The terminal is ready to start work in the short term, given the adaptations forecast by CTC. Having part of the investment in place reduces the risks from unforeseen additional costs, which facilitates maintaining budget provisions.

In addition to the continental traffic already identified by CTC, the strategic location of La Boella can capitalise on other traffic generated a few kilometres from the terminal:

• Maritime traffic container.

• The traffic that will be generated will go to the envisioned Logistics Activities Area (ZAL) located next to the terminal, with its own rail access parallel to the reception and dispatch lines of the La Boella Terminal. The ZAL represents almost 1 million square metres dedicated to logistics. Commencement of operations during 2021.

• Traffic with origin or destination from/to the Intermodal Terminal of Guadalajara, belonging to a logistics park of over 2 million square meters next to Spain's main logistics and industrial corridor (Henares) and in vincinity to other large industrial complexes in Guadalajara.

• The port has recently doubled its tank storage capacity from 0.8Mm3 to 1.6Mm3. Since the storage is located within the port facility, the products could be moved without payload restrictions within the port facility to the terminal to be loaded onto any outbound train, providing potential traffic that could be taken advantage of.

• To a lesser extent, there is also the option of combining with other rail traffic originating/received at the port.

The Mediterranean Corridor

At the press conference, the President of the Port stated that "we cannot forget the role the Mediterranean corridor plays in this project; the potential of this infrastructure will end up positioning Tarragona as a strategic hub in the trans-European transport network, when the Mediterranean corridor and the Central corridor come together in Tarragona”. Cruset added that "this agreement exponentially increases our capacity for drawing increase volumes." He went on to explain that "we need to be aware that this creates a win-win situation, one that allows us to both increase traffic from other terminals/infrastructures and at the same time complete the trains already planned."

For the president of the Port of Tarragona, "this is an agreement that will provide a decisive boost to intermodality and rail transport and will strengthen the port's role as a logistics hub in southern Europe." He also highlighted "CTC's great strategic vision and willingness to collaborate and forge a business alliance to develop an infrastructure with a high initial competitive potential, which will be further strengthened when the Guadalajara Intermodal Terminal and Port Logistics Activities Area comes into operation".

For his part, the Executive representative of CTC, also thanked "the good will and support from the Port of Tarragona in drawing out important lines of the project and contributing actively to make it a reality."

He also explained that "the facilities in La Boella will incorporate the latest technical and digital advances in order to provide competitive services to help customers in competing in the Iberian market and on European level”.

Sustainability

Both representatives have agreed on the contribution that this project will have in reducing the carbon footprint, as each train operating in the terminal would have a footprint of only 45 grams of CO2 per tonne and kilometre, compared to the 80 grams emitted by a truck transport.

And they also stressed that the upgraded La Boella Terminal not only has technical advantages, given the technical features of the terminal or its scalability, but also the synergies arising from the collaboration and alliance with a public agency such as the Port, facilitating dialogue with the administration, access to the port authority and other generators of traffic located within the port area to complement the traffic already planned by CTC.

Combi Terminal Catalonia

Combi Terminal Catalonia is a company whose main aim is to operate an intermodal freight terminal in Tarragona. It was created in 2014 as a joint venture between the companies BASF Española, Contank, Hoyer, Schmidt, Pañalón and Kombiverkehr, during 2021 the incorporation of 3 more partners is planned.

The terminal will connect the companies located in Tarragona and its immediate surroundings with the main European production centres and plants by rail, making the movement of goods entering and leaving the territory more sustainable and competitive.