- The PAV has allocated around 100 million euros for the improvement of the rail connection with Aragón.
- Currently, there are already 30 weekly routes in the rail connection between Valencia and the Aragon community.
- 16% of Aragon maritime export uses the port of Valencia.
Valencia/ Zaragoza, April the 24th 2018. – The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) has presented today in Zaragoza the potential of its port facilities for the Aragonese business fabric. The event, which has been attended by a large representation of entrepreneurs in the logistics sector, has had the presence of Aurelio Martinez, president of the Port Authority of Valencia; Mar Chao, commercial and business development director of the PAV; and Francisco de la Fuente, manager of Aragón Plataforma Logística.
During the meeting, the president of the PAV has presented the main figures that define Valenciaport. In this regard, he recalled that “the port of Valencia is the main port of Spain in container traffic, first of the Mediterranean and fifth of Europe. Our main specialization is container traffic, which currently amounts 76% of the total cargo we channel”. He also explained that “currently, Valenciaport is connected to 1,000 ports around the world through 100 regular lines and we have a presence of the main shipping companies in the world. In fact, Maersk, MSC or Cosco have a terminal in the port of Valencia. We are the first import and export port in Spain with 70 countries in the world. “Aurelio Martinez also explained that “the work of the port is to improve the competitiveness of our influence area which, due to the privileged geostrategic situation, allows it to cover 55% of Spain’s GDP and 51% of the population”.
The president of the PAV has insisted among the Aragonese businessmen that “Aragon is a strategic community for the port of Valencia but, currently, only the 16% of the maritime export of the community uses our port. Without a doubt, the infrastructures have failed and this is what have kept us away. For this reason, we have made a bet on the improvement of the railway connection that will increase the offer, until now limited by little competitive, for the Aragonese business fabric “.
In this sense, Aurelio Martínez recalled that, in total, the PAV plans to invest around 100 million euros in the improvement of this rail connection, both on the Sagunto-Teruel-Zaragoza line and on the rail access to the port of Sagunto. Of the total of this investment, 13.6 million euros have already been entered and the agreement with Adif has been signed for the improvement of 7 sidings on the route between Sagunto and Teruel. It is expected that during the first half of this year, the works will be put out to tender so that they can be completed by the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019. These actions will make it possible to serve trains of up to 750 meters in length and will involve an improvement of at least 15 % in the operating conditions of the line. Also, the PAV plans to invest another 40 million for improvement works of the line, which are pending to be consigned through an agreement with Adif, and 31.5 million euros for the construction of the rail access to the port of Sagunto.
Likewise, Aurelio Martínez recalled that “Adif has already made some improvements in the line, such as the reduction in the number of speed limitations, the extension of the train-ground communication system and the consolidation works that will allow the line to accommodate trains of up to 22.5 tons per axis”. All these improvements have allowed five times the freight traffic and currently hold up to 30 weekly grooves.
The president of the PAV has indicated that “we will continue betting on this line because it does not make sense that the main land logistics platform is not connected to the main maritime logistics platform.” We want to be the door to the Mediterranean Sea of Zaragoza.
Next Projects
Also, during the day, Aurelio Martinez has also exposed the main projects in which the Port Authority of Valencia is immersed. Among them, the northern extension stands out, and when it is operational, it will increase the capacity of the port of Valencia to 12.5 million containers as well as the increase of its logistics areas with Parc Sagunt II and the ZAL of Valencia.