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The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) has launched a pilot project to transport grain by train from Ukraine to Spain as an alternative or complement to the maritime mode at a time marked by Russia's invasion and limitations in Black Sea ports.
Renfe Mercancías has sent 25 40-foot containers to the Polish-Ukrainian border to transport 600 tons of Ukrainian corn to Spain. The containers have been fitted with "liners" (special large bags for transporting the grain).
This is a pilot test with which the Ministry seeks to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of rail transport of grain through the rail freeway that crosses Europe from Lodz (Poland) to Barcelona Can Tunis (Spain).
Specifically, the outbound traffic is Madrid - Ludwigshafen - Duisburg - Lodz - Chelm, while the return traffic is Chelm- Lodz- Duisburg- Barcelona Can Tunis via the rail freeway, involving a route of approximately 2,400 kilometers, and is expected to arrive in early September.
The first steps of this pilot project coincide with the reopening of the Black Sea ports and the grain maritime routes supervised by Turkey, so the test trip will be made with 600 tons of corn, a smaller volume than initially committed, but equally important to test the feasibility of a rail solution to support maritime transport.
August 10, 2022/ MITMA/ Spain.
https://www.mitma.gob.es
