Transmodal Forum on November 12 to Highlight the Intermodal Role of the Port of Bilbao

On November 12, the 18th edition of the Transmodal Forum will be held in the assembly hall of the Álava Chamber of Commerce, organized by the Bilbao Port Authority and the Álava Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services, sponsored by Howden and with the collaboration of the Basque Government and the Álava Provincial Council. Under the title 'The Atlantic Arc: Connectivity between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe', the event aims to showcase the intermodal potential of the logistics hub of Álava and the Port of Bilbao, both for its geographic location and its infrastructure.

The opening session will feature the president of the Álava Chamber of Commerce, Gregorio Rojo; the president of the Bilbao Port Authority, Ivan Jimenez; the Deputy General of Álava, Ramiro González; and a representative of the Basque Government. Afterwards, the secretary general of the Atlantic Arc Commission, Elise Wattrelot, will speak on the importance of the Atlantic area for logistics. One of the panels will be dedicated to the Jundiz Intermodal Terminal, considered a strategic piece of infrastructure for rail freight transport and for consolidating Álava and Bilbao as leading logistics hubs in the north of the peninsula and along the Atlantic Corridor. The agenda also includes panels on connecting the Iberian Peninsula with Europe and the world, with participation from DHL Express Europe, DB Cargo Iberia, Grupo Transonuba, Vidrala Logistics, AECOC and ONTIME, among others, as well as sessions on intermodal transport for consumer goods and on wine logistics in the wine-producing regions of the Arc.

The Port of Bilbao positions itself as a benchmark in the use of rail within its intermodality strategy. Between January and September 2026, 2,823 trains ran through its facilities, of which 1,988 carried containerized cargo and moved a total of 92,135 TEUs, representing 27% of the port's total container traffic, placing it as the leader of the Spanish port system in that share. The port has a network of twenty-two dry ports and access routes connecting to the national rail network as far as Miranda de Ebro, where it splits toward Burgos-Madrid and toward Zaragoza, in addition to a TECO terminal and a train classification yard within the port grounds.

Adif recently awarded operation of the Vitoria-Jundiz rail terminal to the UTE Terminal Intermodal Jundiz, made up of the Bilbao Port Authority, Servicios Intermodales Bilbaoport (Sibport), the Álava Chamber of Commerce, the Vitoria Transport Center (CTV), the Pasaia Port Authority and Medlog Spain Logistic, part of the MSC Group. The contract has an initial term of six years, extendable up to twenty, and envisages the handling of 300,000 ITUs in that first period. The infrastructure is part of the Trans-European Transport Network and holds a strategic position as the starting point of the cross-border section Vitoria-San Sebastián-Bayonne-Bordeaux, making it a key element for boosting rail freight transport and consolidating Álava as a logistics hub on the Atlantic Corridor.