The Port of Barcelona and the city councils of Barcelona and El Prat give a progress report on the Urban Master Plan for the Intermodal Logistics Terminal

A progress report was given today on the Urban Master Plan (UMP) for the Intermodal Logistics Terminal of the Port of Barcelona, a document that will guide the upcoming rail expansion in the southern area of the Port. This railway node is an infrastructure complex which boasts: a ferroutage terminal, a reception and shipment terminal and a loading and unloading terminal, all located in the former bed of the Llobregat River, as well as the Nou Llobregat Terminal, a reception and shipment terminal parallel to the current course of the river. The instrastructure is supra-municipal and a consensus on its development was reached by the Port and the city councils of Barcelona and El Prat, with additional involvement from the Department of the Vice-Presidency and Digital Policies and Territory and drafting body Barcelona Regional.

On hand as the UMP progress report was presented were Damià Calvet, President of the Port of Barcelona; Janet Sanz, Second Deputy Mayor and Head of the Barcelona City Council Department of Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Mobility; Lluís Mijoler, Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat; and Agustí Serra, General Director of Territory and Urban Planning.

The Port of Barcelona is fostering rail transport because it is efficient and competitive. In the last 10 years, the Port's intermodal strategy has meant 2.8 million fewer truck journeys. In 2020, rail traffic in the port area kept 175,000 trucks off the road, the equivalent of 700 fewer trucks on the road every day. This drop in road traffic meant 42,700 fewer tonnes of CO2 were released and 14 million fewer litres of fuel burned.

A powerful, six-terminal rail hub

The infrastructure envisioned in the UMP, together with existing infrastructure nearby –the BEST rail terminal on Prat wharf and the already completed and operational Terminal C for shipment and reception– will form a very powerful, six-terminal rail node to serve the Port of Barcelona and the surrounding area: Barcelona's Zona Franca Tax-Free Area, the Polígon Pratenc Industrial Estate and the industries in the municipality of Baix Llobregat and south of Barcelona. This node will serve not just maritime-land and land-maritime traffic, but also land-land traffic, which will be able to take advantage of this infrastructure to reach markets sustainably and efficiently.

The node occupies 68 ha and is one of the nodes of the Mediterranean Corridor. The aggregrate of this infrastructure, with the new land accesses to the Port of Barcelona and the 10 railway sections of the Barcelona-Zaragoza axis (involving public investment of €600 and €30 million respectively) will increase the number of containers entering and/or leaving the Port by train, thus moving us closer to our environmental and efficiency goals.

In 2020, rail traffic in the Port of Barcelona was 269,304 TEU, with a 15% rail share of containers and 42% rail share of vehicles. The Intermodal Logistics Terminal is expected to make it possible to shift about 400,000 containers and 46.000 semi-trailers from road to rail every year.

New green public spaces

The UMP will include regulation and urban planning of the spaces affected by new infrastructure. It envisions creating 20.8 ha of new green public spaces and the Green Corridor Agricultural Park of the Llobregat-Montjuïc Park, a network of green itineraries connecting the various logistic-port areas and natural spaces. This UMP is a very important first step toward improving the city-port relationship by leveraging the space offered by new railway terminals at the Morrot station to link to the Marina del Prat Vermell and decongest traffic.

The UMP also envisions using green corridors as buffers to integrate the new infrastructure into the landscape. It will guarantee territorial integration of the new infrastructure and ensure the infrastructure is used for logistics and transport. It will also make sure that the resulting new public spaces have an environmental and social function and will minimise the impact of the infrastructure. The Intermodal Logistics Terminal of the Port of Barcelona will not therefore affect the valuable spaces nearby. “The Port's commitment is substantial. We are talking about the Port of Barcelona putting €15 million toward direct investment outside the port area to create the urban planning conditions envisioned under the UMP. This move guarantees the environmental and social function of our public spaces", explained Damià Calvet, President of the Port of Barcelona, today.

The progress report of the UMP for the Port of Barcelona Intermodal Logistics Terminal coincides with the start of the three-month process of citizen participation. Once the contributions of citizens and local bodies have been incorporated and the environmental side of the project processed, initial approval of the PMU and the start of public consultation are expected. The amendments collected from citizens, town councils and associations during this public consulation will help to finish shaping the document, to which the Territorial Commission of Catalonia will forseeably give final approval in the first quarter of 2023.

Damià Calvet indicated that "the economy of Catalonia needs a more efficient, competitive and sustainable Port of Barcelona. With this urban planning instrument, agreed by the four competent Administrations, we are laying the groundwork for the railway and road accesses and the railway node”.

Janet Sanz, Deputy Mayor for Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Mobility, stressed that "this UMP is an example of a new way to manage the port-city that incorporates new green and sustainable industry, sustainable public infrastructure and co-leadership between large institutions like the Port of Barcelona, City Councils and the Generalitat (regional government) in the service of the public interest”. Sanz asserted that this move "is a chance to ensure that urban and industrial fabric link and go hand in hand, not by generating barriers, but creatung a high-quality and open public space for people to enjoy”.

For his part, El Prat Mayor Lluís Mijoler said that the UMP's progress was the result of "all the administrations involved opting for dialogue and negotiation”. He added that "for the El Prat City Council, giving value and getting the location of our green spaces right was very important”, and asserted that the proposed solution will "restore territorial balance to the Delta, reconnect the city with the Agricultural Park and natural spaces, and replace what had been a wall south of El Prat with a green and sustainable cushion”.

Agustí Serra, General Director of Territorial and Urban Planning, stressed that "this will be an urban planning tool that will make it possible to implement the Port of Barcelona's intermodal terminal, and will integrate infrastructures and spaces dedicated to the productive economy into the territory with across-the-board consensus from administrations”.

Presentation: www.portdebarcelona.cat/PDU-TIM