The Territorial Commission of Catalonia approved the Urban Development Master Plan (PDU) for the Intermodal Logistics Terminal of the Port of Barcelona, a document that regulates the railway development of the southern area of the Port.
This railway node is made up of a set of infrastructures, which include a rail motorway terminal, a reception and dispatch terminal and another for loading and unloading, all located in the old channel of the Llobregat river, and a reception and dispatch terminal parallel to the current course of the river, called the Terminal Nou Llobregat.
This is a supramunicipal infrastructure and for its development, the consensus of the Port with the city councils of Barcelona and El Prat has been achieved, with the involvement also of the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona Regional.
In practice, the approval of the PDU means giving the green light to the construction of the southern railway node of the Port of Barcelona, which must make possible the transfer of a high volume of goods from the road to the train and the substantial reduction of emissions from logistics chains and other negative externalities, such as traffic congestion and accidents. The construction of this railway node will require an approximate investment of 265 million euros, 70 of which correspond to the Terminal Nou Llobregat, located parallel to the new channel of the Llobregat and already under construction; 150 million correspond to the future terminals in the old riverbed; and 45 million euros will be allocated to complementary works that will service the entire infrastructure. To comply with the PDU, the Port of Barcelona will invest 26 million euros in the creation of green areas.
The approval given by the Territorial Commission of Catalonia puts an end to an important process of dialogue and negotiation and to 4 years of procedures, including a citizen participation process, environmental processing and public information, and makes possible the start of the necessary actions to build the railway node. The Port of Barcelona promotes rail transport for its efficiency and competitiveness. In the last 10 years, this Port strategy has avoided more than 1.7 million truck journeys. In 2024, rail traffic in the port area totaled 11,000 movements, which meant taking 155,000 trucks off the road. This removal of road traffic saved the emission of 48,500 tons of CO2, the equivalent of planting 291,000 trees.
A railway node with 6 terminals
The infrastructures of the PDU, together with the others in the area – the rail loading and unloading terminal at the Prat wharf and Terminal C for dispatch and reception, already built and operational – will form a railway node with 6 terminals, which will serve the Port of Barcelona and its surroundings: the Barcelona Free Trade Zone, the Polígono Pratenc, and the industries of Baix Llobregat and southern Barcelona. This node will serve maritime-land and land-maritime traffic, but also land-land traffic, which will be able to use this infrastructure to reach its markets in a sustainable and efficient way.
The urban sector that includes the PDU covers an area of 131 hectares and the railway node is part of the Mediterranean Corridor.
During 2024, rail traffic at the Port of Barcelona was 219,000 TEUs and 295,000 vehicles. This year, considering the accumulated rail movement up to October, the forecast is to end 2025 with a rail share of 12% in containers and 45% in vehicles. Once the 6 new terminals of the southern railway node are operational, it will be possible to transfer about 640,000 containers and 46,000 semi-trailers annually from the road to the train.
