Rail freight traffic in southern Spain will experience disturbances for most of 2025 due to infrastructure upgrades in the context of the Algeciras-Zaragoza rolling highway development. The adaptation of rail tunnels in the areas of Córdoba, Ciudad Real and Jaén will lead to a 8-and-a-half-month traffic interruption along this axis.
The enlargement of 13 rail tunnels is a necessary step to ensure the transit of convoys carrying semi-trailers coming from Spain’s largest port in Algeciras. The country’s infrastructure manager Adif put out a tender for this operation for a total of 29.7 million euros. This closure is expected to have a significant impact on rail freight, as the only rerouting option made available by Adif is through the Seville-Extremadura line, as Spanish media pointed out.
Most of the tunnels (11) are in the province of Jaén, while there is one each in Córdoba (the longest of the 13) and Ciudad Real. Other than expanding the tunnels, the works include the replacement of ballast, sleepers and tracks as well as drainage and electrification works. Similar initiatives are also being carried out in the section of the future rolling highway between Madrid and Zaragoza to adapt 26 tunnels and 40 overpasses.
The Algeciras-Zaragoza rolling highway
The project for implementing an Iberian gauge rolling highway between the port of Algeciras and the Zaragoza Plaza Terminal was launched in 2022. Back then, Adif launched a feasibility study to assess the state of overpasses and tunnels along the railway. However, the opening of the Algeciras-Zaragoza, rolling highway was indefinitely postponed around the end of November last year. The main causes behind this are the lack of available rolling stock and pending works to adapt the infrastructure.
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