• 4 min de lectura
• 4 min de lectura
The president of the Port Authority of Gijón, Nieves Roqueñi, presented today in León the capabilities and services of El Musel during a conference aimed at the business community of León and organized together with the business associations of León and Asturias, FELE and FADE. This meeting, also attended by the Minister of Mobility of the Principality of Asturias, Alejandro Calvo, allowed, on the one hand, to convey the possibilities offered by the rail connection with the port and, on the other hand, to learn about the logistical needs of the companies in the province.
At this moment, the connection between León and El Musel already has a regular container rail service, operational since February and with a weekly frequency. The objective now is to incorporate new shippers and generate goods in both directions, from León to El Musel and from the port to León, to consolidate this connection and make it possible to increase frequencies. "A logistics corridor is not only made by infrastructure. It is made by the companies that decide to use it," said the president of the Port Authority of Gijón, Nieves Roqueñi, during her speech.
Roqueñí also highlighted that this connection allows companies from León to transport their goods by rail to El Musel to continue by sea to their international destinations, as well as to use the reverse route for their imports. "We are not just talking about connecting León with a port, but about integrating León into a maritime-rail logistics chain with international access," she explained.
Villadangos Intermodal plays a prominent role in this strategy, a project in which the Port Authority of Gijón directly participates and which can be consolidated as a logistics hub in the northwest, thanks to its geographical position, its industrial land, its business fabric, and its road and rail connections.
The participation of the APG in Villadangos responds to the desire to extend the port's services to the territories where companies are located and goods are generated. "The port does not end at its docks," said the president of the APG, who has defended a model in which intermodal terminals allow El Musel to be brought closer to the industrial and logistics centers of the interior.
Capacity to handle new traffic
During the conference, Nieves Roqueñi also emphasized El Musel's capacity to handle new projects and diversify its traffic, because it has infrastructure, drafts, surface area, and capacity to handle new projects and traffic, along with first-class shipping companies and logistics operators.
"These capabilities," she pointed out, "can be especially relevant for sectors present in the business fabric of León such as machinery, the chemical-pharmaceutical industry, and agri-food," since El Musel has solutions adapted to the characteristics of these traffics and the port's maritime connectivity also allows for expanding the internationalization possibilities of companies. Last year, El Musel handled goods originating from or destined for 126 countries, connecting inland business activity with the main European and international markets.
The Pajares Variant and the Atlantic Corridor
If the Pajares Variant has marked a before and after in communications between Asturias, León, and the plateau, especially for rail freight transport, the next challenge, in the words of the APG president, "is to fully exploit this infrastructure and advance in the development of the Atlantic Corridor, so that the rail connection has continuity in the ports and in the maritime routes to Europe."
In this context, Nieves Roqueñí highlighted as a strategic opportunity the possibility of recovering a regular maritime connection between Gijón and Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, like the Motorway of the Sea that previously connected Asturias with France. The arrival of a greater volume of goods from León and other points of the Atlantic Corridor to El Musel would contribute to favoring new short-sea shipping services with France and other European markets.
"The train brings León closer to the port, but the sea brings León closer to the world," summarized the president, highlighting the value of combining rail, road, and maritime transport as an opportunity to build more competitive, reliable, and sustainable logistics chains.
The conference today has also served to bring the Port Authority closer to the business community of León and to learn firsthand about the goods moved by companies, their markets, and their logistical needs. Roqueñí highlighted in this regard the collaboration between FELE and FADE to promote knowledge and relationships between the business communities of Asturias and León.
The Port Authority of Gijón believes that the development of this connection requires jointly leveraging the infrastructure, rail and maritime services, logistics nodes, and industrial capacity of both territories to strengthen the connection of León and Asturias with Europe and with international markets.
