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Date Published: 06/07/2022

Alicante-London goods rail link suspended due to lack of cargo

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The Costa Blanca link with the UK was set up by Maritime Terminals of the Southeast (TMS) at the end of 2021

Alicante-London goods rail link suspended due to lack of cargo

Just months after it was inaugurated, a goods rail link between Alicante and London has been suspended until October because there simply isn't enough cargo being transported to make the line viable.

The rail connection was launched by TMS Terminales Marítimas del Sureste (Maritime Terminals of the Southeast) in partnership with Renfe at the end of last year to ship perishable goods to Britain, and return to the Costa Blanca with UK-produced food products for local consumption as well as for British expats living in the region.

But a lack of business support and importantly, cargo such as fruit and vegetables destined for the UK, has forced TMS to cease operations until October as the European market becomes more and more "saturated with third party products such as Egypt, North Africa and South Africa".

The suspension actually came into effect in mid-May when it was decided to move the last shipments to Valencia for transportation as there wasn't enough cargo to warrant the trip in Alicante.

However, TMS has assured the line will be re-established at the end of September or early October, "once the goods to cover the return journeys have been identified."

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Essentially, these will include UK-produced foodstuff, but it is also envisaged that agreements will be made to bulk up these return shipments with UK-made clothing aimed once again at British consumers.

"The main difficulty in the operation of the line since it was launched last October was to arrange goods destined for Alicante that would help to make the operation cost-effective...the train was returning from London empty-handed," explained TMS.

When operating, the weekly train covers the Alicante port/Barking terminal (London) route, departing on Thursdays and arriving in the UK capital on Mondays with refrigerated containers loaded with fruit, vegetables and all kinds of perishable products, and the line's inauguration was a huge boost for Alicante port.

Promoted by TMS, the 'Goods to Rail' project, of which the line is a part, aims to raise awareness among public institutions, the business sector and society of the importance of shifting freight from road to rail in order to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector.

Amongst the sponsors of the campaign in Spain are Renfe, Valencia Port, Adif, Valencia City Council, the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Parliament. Companies such as Transfesa Logistics, Ermewa, Medway and Stadler Valencia are also collaborators.

The reinstatement of the line will be crucial for Alicante port which recovered its railway terminal in 2015, but it is still underused with barely a couple of trains a month to Madrid, mainly because there is no connection with the Mediterranean Corridor.

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