Valencia remains logistically isolated due to extreme weather conditions

The east of Spain is currently experiencing extreme weather conditions, especially in the area of Valencia. The events have already claimed dozens of lives, caused disastrous damages and also halted the railways. “Trains between Valencia and Barcelona are still, for the moment, not operating”, said Spanish infrastructure manager Adif.

Other than the rail infrastructure, the extreme weather labelled as DANA in Spanish, which stands for isolated depression at high-levels, is causing issues at the port of Valencia as well. For example, three container terminals in the port, respectively belonging to Cosco, MSC and Maersk, closed their gates yesterday and it is not yet clear whether or not operations restarted. The port of Valencia was contacted for more information but no answer was provided as of yet.

Rail freight and climate change

Climate change is becoming a increasingly disturbing factor for the rail freight industry in Europe. Other than Spain, this past few months have seen heavy rains in Central and Eastern Europe, which left a significant mark in Austria. Moreover, Italy, Poland, Czechia and Romania all had to deal with such weather conditions over the past few weeks. During the summer it was the turn of Germany, where extreme weather affected logistics and transport services in the north.