Valpark will soon begin the first technical studies for the implementation of a railway hub
Valpark will imminently start drafting the technical studies necessary to evaluate the possible implementation of a modal interchange in the Vallada logistics park (La Costera), an interchange that will serve to connect this large industrial estate with the Mediterranean Corridor railway line, whose route crosses the entire extension of this industrial park, providing it with extraordinary connectivity. The drafting of the study was agreed after it was announced by the Port Authority of Valencia that this station could be of great functionality for port logistics.
This was agreed during the second working meeting held between the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), the Generalitat Valenciana, the company Valencia Plataforma Intermodal and the company Gobernanza Industrial, which is coordinating the resilience plan for the relaunch of Valpark, an industrial park of 1,300,000 square metres with extraordinary economic and business potential.
Several reasons have motivated this first step forward on the part of the PAV to advance in the prospective of Valpark as a logistics service infrastructure for the business sector within its reference railway hinterland.
Involvement of the Generalitat
On the one hand, the involvement of the Generalitat Valenciana in the relaunching of Valpark has been one of the key factors in Valenciaport’s decision to opt for the possible implementation of an intermodal hub. The public company Espacios Económicos Empresariales, 50 percent owned by the GVA and 50 percent by the State, plans to take on the role of development agent to finalise the necessary actions to enable the park to become operational. Thus replicating successful operations such as those already implemented by this company in Parc Sagunt 1 and 2.
On the other hand, the Vallada logistics park has a total surface area of close to 1,300,000 square metres, is two kilometres long between its northern and southern ends, and has sufficient land in its vicinity to guarantee future extensions. Its location offers direct accessibility to the major motorways and railway lines of the Mediterranean corridor on the Valencia/La Encina section, declared a priority intervention under the Sustainable Transport Objective 6 of the Central Government’s Resilience Plan and the Next Generation mechanism. The physical length of the industrial estate would allow the implementation of an infrastructure of 750 linear metres without technical difficulties, complementing the commercial offer of Valpark with the great attraction of having an intermodal connection linked to the port of Valencia.
Another reason is Valpark’s urban planning approach, the bureaucratic processing of which is now fully completed, offering the port’s companies and clients immediate legal availability of industrial land in a location with a high intensity of goods transit. This circumstance would make it possible to promote a supply of large plots of land in an environment of strong legal security and in a very short period, offering effective solutions for the implementation of logistics in the very short term, which could meet the needs of certain clients of the ports of Valencia and Gandia.
It should be remembered that in addition to the legal availability of the land, ADIF has already issued an initial compatibility report for the implementation of a rail interchange in Valpark, as there is no technical impediment to the connection of the park with the general interest rail network, equipped with conventional and international gauge that runs along the entire southern edge of the park.
In addition to all these reasons, the fact that in May 2021 the region of La Costera approved a joint motion by the 19 mayors of the region to make decisive progress in strengthening its industrial and logistical capacities, through the relaunch of Valpark, has also been valued. This great institutional, business and social receptiveness to the development of the infrastructure is valued as a strategic asset in the subsequent development of the infrastructure.