Northern railway access

The Port Authority of Castellón has carried out a complete renovation of the branch line that connects the Port to the main line. The terminals in the Northern area of the port currently in operation, have thus been equipped with a rail access by the Port Authority.

The service area of the port includes the rail network within the port itself and the branch line access to the port. This branch line has been constructed on land expropriated by the government which was then handed over to the Works Committee of the Port of Castellón. It is a strip of land  6.740 metres in length from the points connected to the main line to the entrance of the port, there are stretches with three different widths of 7,70, 9,70 y 11,70 metres.

The branch line, with a length of 6.7 kms, consists of a single line with no electrification, and Iberian gauge,  UIC-54. It starts at the Las Palmas Halt and connects to the network inside the port. The renovated line follows the route of the old line exactly.

One of the main priorities for the renovation of the line was to avoid any unnecessary changes and make every use possible of existing culverts, drains and level crossings and to interfere as little as possible with neighbouring properties.

The works started in 2007 and were finished in 2009.

This investment  was designed to provide the port with a provisional, operative railway access suitable for the short term. For this reason, once the necessary foundations and engineering work had been completed, the line was equipped with all the necessary signalling, telecommunication and safety measures which would permit trains to run on the line according to current regulations and the recommendations made by ADIF.

This renovation of the Northern railway access assured the connection between the port and the principal railway network (RFIG) administered by ADIF.

During 2009 the Port Authority has worked together with ADIF to develop the appropriate regulations which would  permit branch line traffic to restart. A lot of progress has been made with the documentation necessary for both parties to be able to sign the Specific Agreement, given that, at the moment, documents are being prepared on matters which have already been agreed, while at the same time agreement has been reached on additional services. The branch line is currently open though it cannot come into full operation until the documents mentioned above have been definitively completed and signed.