The train wastes 800 million a year in its battle with the truck

If we analyze the causes of this situation, the limited use of rail for freight transport in Spain is due to a combination of structural factors, such as a network focused on passenger transport and poorly adapted to logistical needs (with a lack of adequate sidings and segregated infrastructure, a lack of preferential schedules for freight trains, and low electrification), as well as weak physical and operational connections to ports, marked by a shortage of intermodal terminals and problems in the last mile. "It also doesn't help to have an Iberian track gauge that differs from the European one, where the international standard gauge predominates," the consulting firm OCP points out in a recent report. Despite the unbalanced state of the modal split, it sees opportunities to reverse the situation with investment and the promotion of private initiative.