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Two enclosures, one port
The port of A Coruña in the 21st century looks in two directions: to the east, with the inner port, and to the west, some 6 km from the city centre, with the outer port at Punta Langosteira, its great bet for the future. In 2026 both will be connected by train to each other and to the rest of the network (Atlantic Axis) when the works, which are being carried out at a good pace, are finished.
The works involve two major actions, both exclusively for freight: a new 6.7 km long access branch line to Langosteira, which is being built by Adif Alta Velocidad, with Ineco as construction manager, and a railway network within the enclosure, under the responsibility of the Port Authority of A Coruña (APAC), which has already put out to tender the construction of its future 7.5 km of tracks. Ineco has drawn up a new construction project for the Port Authority, taking the previous 2019 project as a reference , to adapt it to current requirements.
XXL engineering
The A Coruña outer port is an artificial bay reclaimed from the Atlantic thanks to a gigantic breakwater, one of the largest in the world, with a length of more than 3.3 km and a maximum section height of 65 metres, equivalent to that of the nearby Tower of Hercules.
At its far end (or "nose") it reaches a depth of 40 metres, and from the surface it rises another 25 metres to form the seawall. It was built to withstand a design wave height of 15 metres, although this can be exceeded, as it was technically unfeasible to consider the maximum height of 18 metres recorded at that point on the coast.
In addition, a 390-metre-long hammerhead with a vertical section was added 240 metres from the start of the dock's nose, while the counterdike is 1,327 metres long and 8.5 metres high. These huge structures embrace a sheltered sheet of water stretching 264 Ha, with a maximum draught of up to 24 metres, which can accommodate large vessels, compared to 16 in the inner port.
On the land side, according to the Port Authority, the current available surface area is 190 ha, expandable to 250 ha.
Photos: APAC
The Punta Langosteira railway is essential for the port as a whole to be able to deploy its full potential in the handling of the goods in which it specialises: energy, industrial and agri-food products.
After hydrocarbons, bulk agri-foodstuffs are the second most important sector for the port of A Coruña, the first in the north of Spain in terms of feed and cereal traffic, to feed the Galician livestock and poultry herds and those of neighbouring areas of Asturias and Portugal. Cereals are also the raw material for the bioethanol produced at the Vertex plant in Teixeiro, located some 60 km from the port, which generates a traffic of several trains per week.
Traffic transfer from the inner to the outer port. Image: APAC
Since the inauguration in 2012, a large part of this traffic has been transferred to the new site, which has grown by more than 400% in the last two years and now handles 60% of the port's total. The inland port will also benefit from this transfer, focusing on the remaining commercial activities: fishing, cruises and "clean" goods.
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Everything is bigger in Langosteira
By sectors, the transfer of hydrocarbon traffic is almost complete, following the move of Repsol, one of the main operators in the port of A Coruña, where it opened its industrial complex in 1964. After signing an agreement with the Port Authority, the oil company began its relocation in 2013, which will close definitively in 2027, when its concession in the inner port ends and refined products traffic is transferred. In the meantime, it has made a major investment in recent years with the construction of a 520 m long maritime terminal (jetty) for vessels up to 200,000 tonnes. This is where the new 3.8 km pipeline starts, which runs almost entirely underground to the refinery, which plans to become a biofuels development hub. Thus, after receiving its first crude oil tanker last year, this activity has moved away from the city centre.
At the same time, decarbonisation, to which the Port Authority is committed with its A Coruña Green Port project (which also affects the digitalisation and modernisation of port companies) has led to other changes, in addition to the location: the practical disappearance of some traditional traffics, such as coal and coke. In 2023 activity was maintained with destination to European ports (due to the energy crisis)because of the closure of the thermal power stations of Meirama in 2019, and, partially, that of As Pontes.
In parallel, the energy transition process has also generated new niches of activity in new facilities: the hydrogen and green ammonia value chain, the renewable energy production and components(offshore wind, with 9 company applications in 2023), and biofuels. These industries require large storage areas on land and special infrastructures, such as deep draughts for large vessels, docks with high bearing capacity, which allow the handling of large and heavy parts, and extensive areas for operations and storage.
The Punta Langosteira facilities also offer business opportunities for other industries that require large spaces, such as biomass plants, ship breaking and repair, cement manufacturing and clinker storage (the base material used in the manufacture of cement).
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Underground,towards the sea
As in the case of the outer port itself, the construction of the railway access, which crosses the municipalities of Arteixo and A Coruña, also poses great technical challenges, given that almost the entire layout runs under the ground: And not just any soil, but the granite one, orthogneiss and schist rocks, characteristic of the area, as stated in the geological and geotechnical study carried out in 2012.
Hence, the construction system chosen to build the three tunnels of the branch line (3,700, 792 and 752 metres) was the so-called "new Austrian tunnel method", which, broadly speaking, consists of blasting the excavation face with explosives, clearing and then carrying out the support with various systems: shotcrete, bolts, trusses, mesh, etc.
Adif Alta Velocidad has entrusted Ineco with the construction management of the works, promoted by APAC, with a completion period of 48 months, and since they began in 2022, they have progressed at a good pace.
The layout consists of two main axes, which will measure 6.7 km: In the direction of A Coruña, the section formed by tunnels 1, the longest, which will have three evacuation galleries (of 716, 729 and 685 m., making a total length of 7.4 km), and 2, which reaches the new port area, where it will link up with the new internal network. In the open-air section between the two tunnels, there is a crossing over the Rego de Suevos valley, a small watercourse, and over the provincial road CP-0503, which is resolved by the construction of an overpass.
Overwiew of tunnel 2 junction 1 and crossing over the Rego de Suevos, in March 2024. Photo: Ineco
The other axis, in the direction of Santiago de Compostela, measures just over 1 km and connects with the conventional Zamora-Palencia line, currently out of service, and includes tunnel 3.
The execution of the infrastructure includes the construction and equipping of the tunnels and their evacuation galleries, (surveillance and anti-intrusion systems, evacuation signalling, ventilation, lighting, fire detection, alarm and extinguishing, fixed and mobile communications, control centre, water and electricity supply), the technical buildings, track assembly, and eight structures (one overpass and seven boreholes).
It has been designed for a maximum speed of 100 km/h, on single track of Iberian gauge (1,668 mm) without electrification, although the platform (8.35 m wide) will be prepared for future electrification, as the right side will be wider than the left to leave space for future catenary posts. In addition, multi-purpose sleepers will be used to allow an eventual changeover to international gauge (1,435 mm), as has been done on the Atlantic Axis and on other lines throughout Spain.
Almost the entire line, except for the initial section, on ballast, will be built with slab trackship, type Rheda 2000, with embedded polyvalent sleepers, bi-block type in the ballastless track section and prestressed monoblock type PR-01 in the track on ballast. The rail shall be of type 54 E1 of quality 260.
With regard to the control, command and signalling systems, a new electronic interlocking system based on latest generation microprocessors is planned, housed in a technical building located in tunnel 1 and as train protection system, ERTMS/ETCS Level 1, which will be supervised from the ERTMS command post in Ourense. Likewise, the ASFA system will be installed in the new signals and the necessary adaptations will be made to the existing railway network (Uxes, A Coruña and Atlantic Axis) to integrate the new infrastructure.
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The inner network of the outer port
Once the railway arrives at the port entrance, the baton of railway management passes to the Port Authority, which has already tendered and awarded the works. The works are expected to be completed within 23 months, so that their completion will coincide with that of the railway access already underway.
APAC, which already had a construction project in place since 2019, commissioned Ineco in 2022 to revise it , update the design and rewrite it, due to the regulatory, technical and economic changes that had occurred up to that time, and which required adapting the project to the needs detected with the port already fully operational.
Thus, as far as the layout is concerned, the new project drafted by Ineco covers the implementation of interoperable switches and crossings, complying with the specifications in force, as it is part of the General Interest Railway Network (REFIG). Likewise, given that the main port operators currently carry out their activity in the northern part of the port area, the initially planned connection with the southern dock has been eliminated. However, the main change with respect to the previous construction project is the definition of a type of mixed gauge, rubberised slab track(instead of slab track with concrete blocks embedded in the Iberian gauge), designed in accordance with the real needs of the port, and optimising costs.
The planned rail network is made up of a layout with a bundle of four tracks separated in pairs, on both sides of the main road for vehicle access to the port. It is completed with an extension in the area closest to the breakwater, with a three-track railway platform for the composition and breakdown of convoys, which in the initial project was planned to be built at Uxes station. At this point, the new branch to Santiago, currently at the information study stage, will be connected.
In addition to the complete infrastructure for railway operation, the project also includes complementary works, such as earthworks, drainage, easement replacement, railway superstructure, safety and communications facilities, and the technical building.
For organisational reasons, the control, command and signalling systems for the internal network are included in a separate project.
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The Atlantic balcony
The peculiar territorial configuration of A Coruña has been a determining factor in its urban and port development. Situated on the rocky Costa Ártabra of the Rías Altas in Galicia, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, it has been an important maritime enclave since ancient times. The current urban centre arose on the small peninsula delimited by two inlets: to the west, the Orzán inlet, and to the east, the Bay of A Coruña, where the inner port is located.
Main facilities of the inner port. Source: Own elaboration with APAC image and information.
Apart from its industrial activity, A Coruña stands out today as one of the three most important fishing ports in Spain, after Vigo and Pasaia. The modern fish market, inaugurated in 2004, handles 40,000 tonnes of fresh fish and seafood a year, worth 100 million euros, according to APAC data. Another growing commercial activity is cruise ships, which disembarked 323,000 passengers last year, with a forecast to reach 350,000 by 2024.
The port is a tourist attraction and an economic engine for A Coruña and its region, which is, together with Vigo, the most industrialised area of Galicia, and the headquarters of the textile group Inditex (in the industrial estate of Arteixo), which has also set up in the outer port, where it will develop a wind farm with three generators which will supply energy to its facilities located in the adjoining industrial estate of Sabón.
History and future
Two views of the Tower of Hercules, symbol of the city of A Coruña and a World Heritage Site since 2019: at sunset and, in the background, during the TallShips4 Race historic yacht race. Photos: APAC
The arrival of the railway to Langosteira will be a milestone in the history of the city, intricately linked to its port and vice versa. So much so that the symbol of A Coruña is a genuinely maritime element: the Tower of Hercules, the oldest functioning Roman lighthouse in the world.
Among the outstanding historical events that took place in the port of A Coruña are the departure of the Invincible Spanish Armada in 1588 and, in retaliation, the invasion attempt repulsed by the local hero María Pita. Also, the start of trade with America in the 18th century, or the departure of the Balmis-Zendal expedition in 1803 to take the smallpox vaccine to the other side of the Atlantic.
The economic boom of the 1920s was followed by the development of industrial and fishing activity in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century. Several economic and environmental crises (shipwrecks of the Urquiola, the Aegean Sea and the Prestige) highlighted the need for an outer port which would keep the riskiest maritime traffic away from the city centre, while allowing the city to recover urban space.
For the time being, the docks that have been vacated, such as those at Batería and Calvo Sotelo, have already been opened for public use. The dismantling in 2023 of the emblematic "Medusa", a large dome-shaped warehouse for loading and unloading coal, is a symbol of the modern times for the historic port of A Coruña.
"Medusa" or "Coal Palace" in the inner port The closure of the Meirama power plant reduced coal traffic to a minimum and its owner, the company Naturgy, demolished it in 2023. Photo: APAC
