The government of Catalonia, Spain, has announced plans to launch a tender process for a rail freight terminal concession at the port of Barcelona.

The announcement comes after the government of Catalonia and the port of Barcelona achieved an agreement to develop the new €33 million (US$36.2 million) terminal at the port.

The preferred bidder would be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the new terminal through a public private partnership (PPP) contract. The new terminal is expected to serve a new rail-road line to connect Barcelona and Paris by 2019.

The rail-road transport systems work in different European freight corridors. It allows trucks to be loaded directly into trains in about five minutes. The new line would use the existing railway and the terminal would be adapted to use the Modalhor technology.

VIIa, rail logistics company, has announced that it will invest €120 million (US$131.5 million) in rolling stock to begin operations on the proposed Barcelona-Paris line by 2019 and on a second line to Germany by 2020.

According to studies carry out by Clymer and iFreightMED, the new terminal could attract about 10% of the heavy traffic that currently runs between Barcelona and Paris, and 13% of the heavy traffic that runs to Germany.