Tarragona promotes rail connections

THE INTERMODAL PORT

STRATEGY • PORT OF TARRAGONA’S AMIBITION TO BECOME THE REGIONAL HUB FOR LIQUID BULK PRODUCTS IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN RELIES ON RAIL-PORT INTERMODALITY

OVER THE PAST few years, Port of Tarragona has pursued a commercial strategy to become a regional hub in the Mediterranean for liquid bulk products. This strategy rests on the growth in bulk liquids storage capacity, its proximity to the most important chemical cluster in southern Europe, and the opportunities provided by the important development of intermodal services.

Port of Tarragona is a leader in terms of Mediterranean chemical and petrochemical traffic, handling more than 21m tonnes in 2019. Its technical characteristics allow it to have one of the most outstanding port infrastructures in the region: it has an operational draught of up to 15.5 metres (42.8 metres at an exterior monobuoy); an internal pipe rack to connect berths with the terminals and the Southern Chemical Park; and facilities that allow berth-to-berth port operations.

In 2014, Port of Tarragona completed the extension of the Chemical Quay; this key infrastructure will enable independent bulk liquids storage capacity to double from its current 800,000 m³ to some 1.5m m³ in the next few years. This growth in capacity, which is already being developed by Vopak Terquimsa, Tepsa and Euroenergo, is one of the main bases on which rests Port of Tarragona’s strategy to become a regional hub for liquid bulk products. MORE THAN A PORT This infrastructure’s hub positioning is designed on the basis of two subsequent forms of distribution: on one hand, through smaller ships to Mediterranean countries; on the other, through rail-port intermodality to distribute goods to the interior of the European continent: the Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy and central Europe.

Ship-to-rail intermodality is one of the main commitments of the Port of Tarragona. The port itself has important rail infrastructure, alongside key development projects outside its main location. The Chemical Quay has a railway terminal adapted to the loading and unloading of liquid bulk products. It has three tracks of 220 metres in length, and a loading/ unloading system that allows operations directly from storage points.

La Boella Intermodal Terminal is the most important infrastructure in this development. It is a mixed-gauge terminal (with both Iberian and international standard gauge tracks) with four operating tracks and four others for receiving and dispatching trains – all of them are ready to operate trains of 750 metres in length. With first class characteristics such as electrification up to the operating tracks, or a liquid collection system in case of any spillage, it provides for a full, state-of-the-art terminal in the Mediterranean rail freight corridor.

Finally, the Tarragona Port Authority is also working on getting closer to its Iberian hinterland thanks to the construction of a new intermodal terminal in Marchamalo (Guadalajara, Spain), with identical characteristics to those of the La Boella Terminal. The port enclave has currently acquired a 150,000-m² plot of land parallel to the rail line between Madrid and Barcelona, and located in a logistics development area, right on the edge of the point where Madrid’s railway congestion ends. Port of Tarragona says construction works on this new terminal will begin during the coming year.

RAIL IS THE KEY The development of rail-port intermodality is seen as one of the keys in achieving Port of Tarragona’s ambitions. Rail is a highly competitive mode of transport over long distances, helping to increase the port’s effective hinterland area and allow distribution of goods further from the port. Furthermore, the extension of the international gauge rail network to Tarragona is now planned for 2022, which will allow trains to run directly between Tarragona and any point in the European rail network.

Using rail transport as part of a logistics chain can also reduce end-to-end costs. Depending on the final destination of the goods, the Mediterranean can be a very interesting region as an unloading point, using rail to reach the final consumption point and to achieve a much more efficient alternative to the current logistics model that uses the ARA region as an exchange point for goods. That also can reduce the end-to-end transit time as a result of the optimisation of the logistics chain.

Another benefit of using rail is an overall reduction in the environmental footprint of the transport operation. It is well known that rail is a highly sustainable mode of transport, with much lower emissions than others. Furthermore, by using the Mediterranean as a region for unloading liquid bulk products, inefficient links in the logistics chain can be avoided and a much greater reduction in the level of emissions can be achieved.

Rail also provides for continuity during times of disruption, as has been seen during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Land transport across Europe has been paralysed at times by border closures, which can be avoided by the use of rail transport. In addition, rail transport uses fewer human resources per unit of load, with a notable reduction in contact between people. STRENGTH NEEDED These advantages demonstrated by this connection between rail-port intermodality and a hub strategy must have some strengths in order to be successful. Firstly, there must be a concentration of logistics facilities for a good intermodality. Without a clear concentration of these infrastructures, time and cost reductions are not optimal and do not allow the advantages of this intermodality to be obtained. Secondly, a high storage capacity is necessary. This offers the possibility of storing large quantities of product and a variety of goods, and makes it possible to be a point of concentration of loads with the consequent reduction in costs thanks to economies of scale. Finally, the synergies with a powerful industrial cluster are crucial. The fact of having a first class port infrastructure next to a powerful chemical industrial complex allows the generation of important points of reception of goods thanks to the variety of products that are consumed in the region, generating economies of scale with the reception of large quantities of product.

With the aim of promoting the commercial strategy of becoming a regional hub for liquid bulk products, the Port of Tarragona is organising the IV Med Hub Day in November. This free event aims to promote debate and the exchange of information on the strengths and opportunities offered by the Mediterranean as a logistics platform for liquids. Due to the health circumstances created by the Covid-19, this year’s fourth edition will be held virtually on 19 and 20 November.

The IV Med Hub Day will bring together storage terminals operators, ports, consignees, freight forwarders, market analysts and chemical and petrochemical companies, guaranteeing participation and networking among all those attending. This interactive event will have the presence of great experts and a very complete programme - one of the keynote speeches of the event will be on ‘rail-port intermodality as a ground link in a hub strategy’. More information on the event can be found at www.hubdaytarragona.com. www.porttarragona.cat

THE ROLE OF THE PORT IS NOT JUST IN HANDLING

SHIPS BUT IN GETTING GOODS IN, THROUGH AND

OFF TO THEIR END DESTINATION BY SEA, ROAD

OR, IDEALLY, RAIL