​Agreed change in Arrangement financing

Adif, Puertos del Estado and the Seville Port Authority take a further step in the new railway access planned for the Port of Seville

• All three institutions have executed an addendum to the Arrangement signed in 2017 to increase the financial contributions ceiling of the Seville Port Authority to up to 13.5 million euro
• This increased financing is a consequence of the changes foreseen in the layout planned to avoid a halt in port railway traffic
• In turn, Adif has another additional investor heading that includes 11.5 million euro charged to the FEDER program

 


Madrid, 23 April 2020. The president of Adif, Isabel Pardo de Vera Posada, the president of Puertos del Estado, Francisco Toledo Lobo, and the president of the Seville Port Authority, Rafael Carmona Ruiz, have signed an addendum to modify the Arrangement regulating financial contributions of the Seville Port Authority, charged to the financial fund for port accessibility by land, in relation to direct access to the Port of Seville (La Salud railway link).

 

This addendum constitutes a further step forward in the construction of a new railway access to the Port of Seville, gathered in the Arrangement signed on 6 June 2017 by these same institutions, and guarantees execution of the project without affecting current railway traffic in the Port of Seville.

 

Such Arrangement, which seeks to regulate financing terms, established 9.5 million euro as the financing ceiling for the Seville Port Authority in relation to this activity. It is now necessary to raise the overall limit on Seville Port Authority's contributions for this activity to up to 13.5 million euro, with Adif covering the rest of the total investment amount.
 

This greater financial contribution is a consequence of a request made by the Seville Port Authority itself, indicating the need to redesign the layout in such a way as to reduce its impact on train traffic, during execution of the works, to or from the Port of Seville, with Adif in charge of providing an updated project.

The updated project, with the new solution proposed, has increased the total investment initially foreseen, as a consequence of changing the planned layout.

The Seville Port Authority's contribution may not exceed 13,500,000 euro, distributed into the following annuities: 4,500,000 euro for 2021 and the remaining 9,000,000 euro for 2022.

This contribution has been channeled through the Financial Fund for Port Accessibility By Land, assigned a total budget of 661 million euro to help improve port connectivity by land to the railway network, in line with MITMA's polity to promote connected, safe and sustainable mobility.

In turn, Adif has already been assigned a heading in the Arrangement itself for a total of 11.5 million euro, to be charged to the current FEDER program. As the institution in charge of carrying out this activity, the addendum gathers the following issues (amongst others) entrusted to it:

• Completed drafting of the construction project related to the activity being financed, based on the project drawn up by the Ministry of Development, entitled "Increased capacity in Seville's suburban train outer ring and new railway access to the port", and drafting tasks subsequently carried out by the Seville Port Authority.
• Supervision and final approval of the construction project. Previously this project must be validated by the Follow-Up Committee. Upon validation, the project will be considered as delivered to Adif for its execution.
• Tendering of the works execution project associated to the planned activity.
  
   
  
   

PROJECT RELATED TO NEW RAILWAY ACCESS TO THE PORT OF SEVILLE

On 6 June 2017, Puertos del Estado, the Seville Port Authority and Adif signed the "Arrangement regulating financial contributions of the Seville Port Authority charged to the financial fund for port accessibility by land in relation to direct access to the Port of Seville (La Salud link)".

The activity seeks to define a new platform, superstructure for a single track and signaling and communication facilities in a new railway branch, providing direct access to the Port of Seville, avoiding traffic crossing and redirection that is currently necessary in the stations of La Salud, Dos Hermanas or even Utrera, all part of Seville's suburban train network, with a consequent impact on the capacity of the suburban train network and limited crossing of cargo trains.

On 24 January 2019, a meeting was held between Adif and the Seville Port Authority, where the latter pointed out that it was necessary to change the solution on which the current Arrangement had been based, as it involved constructing a viaduct that coincides at ground level with an existing viaduct, which could be avoided if airborne, which is why execution of the works would mean cutting off railway traffic in the Port of Seville until the new branch is completed and commissioned.

The new solution proposed involves shifting the layout in these surroundings some 10-15 meters, circumventing the current access viaduct by constructing alongside it. This change was jointly adopted with the authorities affected by the new constructive solution.

Subsequently, in April 2019, the Seville Port Authority asked Adif to be in charge of drafting the project that included the new solution proposed. Further to this request, approved by the Follow-Up Committee, Adif began the necessary procurement process to obtain a final version of the construction project. This contract, subject to a five-month execution term, is already at an award stage.

The addendum to the current Arrangement, signed today, is able to accommodate the new solution and provide documentary back-up for this new activity, allowing its development.

MULTIMODAL PORT

This new railway access is a strategic project for the Port of Seville, allowing transportation by train in order to gain competitiveness and efficiency and reduce railway crossing times.

This activity will promote multimodality which, along with its strategic location, is one of the main strengths of the Port of Seville, allowing the current railway infrastructure to make the most of its capacities without conditioning factors as to load or length.

The Port of Seville is Andalusia's leading port in container railway traffic. In 2019, railway traffic registered a 14.8% increase, particularly in cargo transit by land, over the total tons moved (overall, train-moved tons increased to 489,231 t). Amongst other factors, this is due to the greater frequency of the Seville-Sines service, of up to 6 connections a week. Furthermore, the Port of Seville is also regularly connected to Madrid, Bilbao and Extremadura.  

EUROPEAN FUNDS

This activity is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through Spain's 2014-2020 Multi-Region Operative Program. Thematic Objective 7: Sustainable transportation.

"A way to make Europe"