Vilamalla freight rail terminal gets €16.2m first phase

The Catalan government will spend €16.2 million on the first phase of a new rail freight station in Vilamalla. The project is part of a wider plan to move more of Catalonia's goods off the roads and onto trains.

The announcement came in a busy week for rail freight in the Alt Empordà. Days earlier, a Figueres-based advisory body called for faster progress on two major rail projects in the county.

Four new freight stations by 2031

Sílvia Paneque, the Catalan minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, presented the plan after Tuesday's meeting of the Executive Council, the weekly cabinet meeting of the Generalitat (the Catalan government).

Between now and 2031, the government expects to invest €126.96 million in four rail stations for loading and unloading goods. Vilamalla is one of them. The other three will be built in Lleida, the Ebre area and the Penedès.

According to government sources, each location reflects "real demand" from local companies that want rail services for their goods. In the Empordà-Vilamalla area, the main interest comes from businesses in the meat, fresh produce and car sectors.

A support role for Portbou

The strategy also includes the station at Portbou, on the French border. The government sees it as a support point for the other terminals, although no money has been set aside for it yet.

The Generalitat says Portbou needs European standard gauge track. At present, standard gauge only runs from France as far as the border. The government says the change would strengthen the role of the Portbou terminal, open new opportunities for freight traffic and reinforce the rail network as a whole.

A 10% target

The strategy aims to have 10% of Catalonia's goods travelling by rail before 2030. The government also wants to develop a "rail motorway", a system in which complete lorries are loaded onto trains.

Paneque said Catalonia "cannot depend only on the road". "We need more trains, and that is why we need these connections," she said. She added that the new infrastructure would make freight transport more environmentally sustainable and the Catalan economy more competitive.

Figueres commissioner calls for coordination

The same two goals are behind a statement approved last Friday by the Commissioner for the Rail Transformation of Figueres. This advisory council, led by Joan Armangué, met at Figueres town hall.

Its declaration asks the different administrations to work together to push forward two projects: the Empordà Intermodal Terminal, and the conversion of the Figueres-Portbou section to mixed gauge. Mixed gauge track can carry trains built for more than one rail width.

The council describes the two projects as "complementary and essential" to build "a modern, competitive rail network fully integrated in Europe". It urges the Catalan government, the Spanish government and the relevant bodies to make them a priority. It also wants Empordà businesses to take an active part in their development.

The Bigger Picture

For the Alt Empordà, the Vilamalla money is the first concrete sign that rail freight plans are moving from talk to budgets. If the terminal works as intended, it could take some lorry traffic linked to local meat, fresh produce and car businesses off the county's roads, which matters to anyone who drives regularly between Figueres, Empuriabrava and the coast.

Still, €16.2 million covers only a first phase, and Portbou has no funding yet. The Figueres commissioner's call for coordination suggests local leaders worry the projects could move at different speeds. It is worth watching whether the Spanish government, which the council also addressed, commits to the Figueres-Portbou gauge work, and whether local businesses are brought into the planning as the council requests. Without those pieces, the 2030 target may prove hard to reach.