The second phase of expansion of the Zaragoza Maritime Terminal will begin in 2025

The city of Zaragoza has been the protagonist of the Day of Aragon that is celebrated in the America’s Cup in Barcelona where the mayor, Natalia Chueca , has valued the Maritime Terminal of Zaragoza (tmZ) before more than a hundred businessmen and has announced that in 2025 the works of expansion of this railway port platform will begin.

Natalia Chueca explained to the attendees that the first phase of the tmZ expansion was recently completed after an investment of more than 5 million euros, increasing the surface area by more than 30,000 square metres and thus being able to extend the loading and unloading tracks to operate trains of up to 1,000 metres and to increase the container depot. “We gain in efficiency because more goods arrive and transporters can load more quantities in less time,” said the mayor, who stressed that “in just 18 minutes a transporter can enter the platform, load and begin their route.”

The capacity for container storage has also increased by 50%, a fact that consolidates tmZ “as the national railway terminal with the greatest capacity”, explained the Mayor of Zaragoza.

Once the first phase of the expansion is completed, which is already operational, the second phase will be launched. As the mayor has stated, this second project will be put out to tender in the last quarter of the year in order to be able to carry out the works throughout 2025. The investment for this second phase is budgeted on a tender basis at 3.7 million euros, which is added to the almost 5 million of the first phase.

This second phase will consist of the construction of a new railway connection to the general network to the north, to convert tmZ into a through terminal, which will mean a very substantial increase in the efficiency of railway operations, since railway compositions will be able to transit through the terminal through a separate entrance and exit, simplifying and in many cases avoiding railway manoeuvres.

The Mayor stressed that Zaragoza is an important economic driving force in southern Europe thanks to its prosperous and diverse industrial fabric with more than 40,000 active companies and more than 13 billion euros in exports in the last year.

Hence, there are three mega-platforms: tmZ, which is the first intermodal logistics platform in Spain with more than 3,000 trains and 160,430 containers in the last year; Plaza, which has become the first logistics centre in Spain and the fourth in Europe with 550 companies installed and more than 16,000 direct employees; and Mercazaragoza, with around 120 companies installed, specialised in fresh and frozen products that sell around 160,000 tonnes of food per year. In addition, Zaragoza Airport registered 17,782 tonnes of cargo in August, which represents an increase of 33.3% compared to the same period last year.

TMZ 25th ANNIVERSARY

The execution of this second phase of the expansion will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the company, which will take place in 2025. After remembering its first promoter, the mayor Pepe Atarés, Natalia Chueca has highlighted that in all this time a model has been consolidated that has boosted the trade of the region and has been crucial for the opening of its economy to the world so far this century. It is a unique model in Spain that has been subsequently replicated to boost trade and the economy of Aragon.

The Zaragoza Maritime Terminal is one of the first freight rail terminals on the European-Mediterranean Corridor in terms of activity and capacity. It is an operational and administrative extension of the inland ports that promotes the creation of corridors with other inland rail enclaves and works on the development of international connections. It was founded with the aim of developing international maritime trade in Aragon through intermodality, and has already been extended three times thanks to the growing demand from Aragonese companies for export. A demand also boosted thanks to the work of the terminal as a driving force of the Aragonese economy since it began its journey in 2001.

The corporate structure of tmZ is a success story of public-private collaboration. tmZ is owned by Mercazaragoza with 56.7%, Port of Barcelona with 21.5%, Government of Aragon with 20.5% and with a portion of private partners totalling 1.3%. In addition, tmZ Services, SL has a 35% stake in the terminal operating company, together with the companies Maersk with 45% and Hutchison with 20%.

Mercazaragoza currently has a surface area of ​​80 hectares. Within the Food Unit, we have Fish, Fruit and Vegetable and Meat Markets and the first Inland Intermodal Terminal (tmZ) with the capacity to load and transport goods by rail under temperature control.