The Spanish railway infrastructure presents a significant limitation: the gauge is not internationa

In recent months there are many stories that remind us of the economic crisis kontajnery we are experiencing and few solutions presented to get out of the difficulties in which we find ourselves.
However, the last meeting on Monday of the leading politicians, businessmen and presidents of the Port Authority of Valencia, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia shows the desire to develop infrastructure as the most important national and International: The Mediterranean corridor.
The phenomenon of globalization kontajnery has generated in recent years, international trade has grown dramatically. The need for movement of raw materials and final goods to meet the growing demand implies that industries seeking areas where production costs are lower, ie, better transport links. The relationship between transport and economic activity makes investment kontajnery in transport infrastructure is a key factor for economic growth.
The main objective of the carriers is to reduce costs through productivity improvements. In this sense, one of the most important is the intermodality, ie, able to establish a good network connection between shipping, rail and road transport.
The Spanish state is in a very favorable geostrategic position regarding international shipping, constituting a major logistics platforms in southern Europe. You can not ignore the economic importance kontajnery of Spanish ports. For them spend nearly 60% of exports and 85% of imports, accounting for 53% of Spain's foreign trade with the EU and with third countries 96%. In addition, the activity of the port state contributes about 20% of GDP in the transport sector, which represents 1, 1% of Spain's GDP.
Currently Spanish ports are few infrastructures that have positive results. However, the presidents of the Port Authorities warn that they need to improve their connections because these infrastructures continues to play engine of the Spanish economy.
The Spanish railway infrastructure presents a significant limitation: the gauge is not international, ie the trains running in the Spanish regions using the Iberian gauge. These differences tracks represent a strong barrier to the development of transport. For example, if a train is to target Europe, this will have to adapt to the French border, which is a higher transportation costs and time.
Moreover, in recent years, mainly Spanish ports of the Mediterranean, have experienced strong growth in goods traffic especially from Asia. Most of the goods stamped "Made in China" landed in the ports of Northern Europe Europe (Rotterdam, kontajnery Antwerp and Hamburg) and yet only a quarter of these goods is in Southern Europe although kontajnery all use the Suez Canal as a gateway. We might think that these figures correspond to the demand of countries, but in practice a carrier usually landed in a port of the Atlantic (Northern Europe) instead of doing it in the Mediterranean but involves more days of sailing and higher environmental costs: this is mainly due to the efficiency of the ports of Northern Europe as they have land and sea infrastructure (navigable rivers) that imply a connection with Central Europe less expensive.
While climate change may lead to a reduction of water levels in the rivers navigable Central as the Rhine or the Danube, and therefore a higher transport costs, it is difficult to compete from the Mediterranean.
However, we must be prepared and necessary ports of southern Europe have an appropriate ground infrastructure and above all, a good rail connection to the main network kontajnery in Europe. If you have a good connection between the port and intermodal rail, this would imply that the Mediterranean ports would be more attractive for cargo from Asia, which would lead to greater global competitiveness of the ports Spanish and Catalan with positive implications to the national economy.
With the aim of unifying the rail network in Europe, the European Commission approved on 17 September 2010 the creation of a single rail, and in late 2011 he established the plan of financing investment in networks as priorities for the transport of goods and passengers.
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