On 25 September 2015, 193 countries committed themselves to achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. These SDGs are based on the values of responsibility, equality, sustainability and resilience, among others. Land freight transport could play a key role in achieving these objectives, since this is a sector that contributes to employment and the economy, connecting and enabling world trade, exchange between consumers and producers and is closely linked to the economic development of countries.

The way in which this transport is developed is another key factor in achieving the SDGs, because transport services themselves, and the necessary infrastructure, can be directed towards more energy-efficient, lower-carbon emissions, more reliable vehicles and means of transport, and accessible and resilient infrastructure.

Within the framework of the European Union (EU) and in the railway sector, one example of measures and actions in alignment to help achieve the SDGs is the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Its roll-out involves planning interoperable infrastructures that will eliminate existing inter-country connectivity problems arising from differences in technical specifications in each country, such as track gauge.

Specifically, Regulation 1315/2013 requires that infrastructure be electrified, have a standard track gauge of 1,435 mm, and allow trains with a minimum axle load of 22.5 tonnes, as technical requirements on the TEN-T Core Rail Network by 2030. At the same time, in the field of road transport, the EU recently approved a reduction in CO₂ emissions from lorries, which means that beginning in 2025, new lorries will be required to emit an average of 15% less than in 2018, with a reduction of up to 30% starting in 2030.

According to the latest available figures from the Observatory for Transport and Logistics of Spain (OTLE), the land freight transport market has a significant presence, accounting for 75% of the freight transported in and out of the country in 2018. The share in terms of tonnes of the land mode varies significantly depending on the area in question; in the case of international journeys, it drops to 20%, with maritime transport playing a more significant role.

In Spain, 96% of tonnes of freight are transported by road, the predominant mode of transport, as opposed to rail, which in 2018 accounted for less than 2% of freight and 4.3% of net tonne-kilometres for all modes of transport. However, rail freight transport is almost five times more energy efficient than road, in regard to the energy consumed with each tonne-km transported, according to data from OTLE.

In Spain, 96% of tonnes of freight are transported by road, the predominant mode compared to rail, which moved less than 2% in 2018

The share of the rail transport mode in land freight transport in Spain has been decreasing since the second half of the previous century, when the conditions of the means of transport and road infrastructures improved significantly, leading to a loss of market share for railways that has continued until today. Similar declines, albeit to a more limited extent, have also occurred in neighbouring countries. In 1991, the tonnes-km of rail freight accounted for 10.7% of total demand, dropping to 6.8% in 2001.

Given the current situation of the railways, measures are being taken in terms of infrastructure and the updating of regulations, in line with those issued by the EU, as part of a global effort to promote efficient and sustainable means of transport. These include the construction of the Mediterranean Corridor, improvements to the conventional network and the development of a new gauge changeover system.

The Mediterranean Corridor is part of the trans-European corridor between Algeciras and Stockholm. It is 3,500 km long, covers 54% of the population of the EU and 66% of the GDP. It will enable the movement of people and freight by rail, generating opportunities and economic growth. In Spain, it runs through the Regions of Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia, connecting with European railway lines, including high-speed lines, and with the main Spanish ports on the Mediterranean arc, making it one of the most important railway routes on an economic and commercial level. The new infrastructure consists of 14 sections, 5 of which, the ones closest to the French border, have been completed, with the remainder under construction or currently being planned. It is scheduled to be completed in 2025, although it could run beyond that date.

When the high-speed network is put into service, passenger traffic will be transferred from the Iberian-gauge conventional network to the standard-gauge HS network, which will create free lines that can be used by freight trains without having to be shared with passenger trains. Works are being carried out to improve freight transport, including new electrified sections, such as the Bobadilla-Algeciras section, which is within the actions of the Mediterranean Corridor, and the Salamanca-Fuentes de Oñoro section on the Portuguese border, which forms part of the Atlantic Corridor, and which is expected to be completed in 2021 to connect the ports on the Atlantic coast with the centre of Europe.

One of the factors most often used to justify the limited use of rail for international trade has been the difference in gauge between mainland Spain and the European network. In an attempt to address this problem, various procedures have been applied, from the transshipment of freight to the changing of axles and bogies of wagons and carriages, along with a competition in 1966 to have rolling stock that would automatically change gauge. The finalists were the systems from Seville-based OGI and Vevey in Switzerland, with the latter chosen as the winner but later rejected for failing to meet the technical requirements.

In 2011 and 2013, the decision was made to develop the OGI system, a mandate that has been carried out by the companies Adif, Azvi and Tria. Following homologation of the gauge changeover system in 2019, the State Railway Safety Agency authorised the entry into service of the MMC3 container wagons and LTF vehicle carriers. In principle, the availability of the new wagons should increase rail transport, although this type of material will be limited to specific relations, since due to its specific characteristics it will have to make mainly round trips outside the Iberian Peninsula.

The opening of the Madrid–Seville AVE was, certainly, a technological revolution for the world of Spanish railways, a leap forward that put us at the international cutting edge of the technology and construction of track and rolling stock. In a short time, high speed revitalised the railway and changed the modes of transport competing successfully with road and air travel. Through the trust of the Ministry, Renfe, and later Adif, Ineco began to participate in the development of high speed, working alongside many other Spanish engineering and construction firms.

In the start-up of the high-speed line, it was necessary to draw on practically all disciplines of civil engineering and architecture: alignment, geology and geotechnical engineering, structural calculation and design, underground works, hydrology and drainage, environmental recovery, railway infrastructure and superstructure, station design and remodelling, demand and traffic studies, the inspection of bridges, waterways and viaducts, load testing, track inspection and instrumentation, energy and substations, signalling, control centres, operation, etc.

In the start-up of the high-speed line, it was necessary to draw on practically all disciplines of civil engineering and architecture

That is why when Spain’s first high-speed line (and one of the first in the world) was inaugurated 25 years ago, the 250 km/h journey between Madrid and Seville (471 kilometres in under three hours) was for many people a triumph, a celebration almost as important as Expo’92, the major event with which the inauguration was timed to coincide.

Remembering these dates, we also recall those young Ineco engineers and technicians who, taking Renfe’s lead, had the opportunity to participate in this great project. Thanks to these humble beginnings and the expertise, rigour and talent of our professionals, companies in the Spanish rail sector today are more competitive and enjoy a well-deserved international recognition. An example of this is our participation in high-speed projects in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and India.

The UN’s Habitat III conference in Quito and the future role of transport in cities; the study of Europe’s main transport routes; modernisation works for a railway line in Turkey and the latest innovations in improving European air traffic; these are also important themes to analyse, and we hope that our readers find them enjoyable and interesting.

The world is increasingly urbanised, and in just a few decades it will be even more so. Cities only make up a tenth of the world’s land, yet today more than 55% of the total population (7,800 million people) live in them. By 2050 this percentage will have reached 70% of the world’s population, estimated at 10,000 million. These are the figures handled by UN-Habitat, the United Nations programme devoted to housing and sustainable urban development, i.e. to ensuring that human settlements are adequate and decent for people and that they respect the environment.

The process of urbanisation –with all its social, economic and environmental repercussions– is happening on a global scale, at an increasingly fast pace and spontaneously, giving rise to urban settlements that lack the minimum infrastructure and services to ensure the quality of life and development of their inhabitants. Adequate planning of both urban growth and transport networks –especially in large metropolitan areas– is one of the keys to making cities into habitable environments that are sustainable, safe, fair and friendly for their inhabitants.

We cannot talk of city planning from one sole point of view or one sole model: we have to consider what makes each urban area unique in order to offer effective solutions that respond to specific problems.

For this, we require political will, commitment from all actors (state, private and civilian), as well as availability of economic and financial resources, which will enable policies and actions to be agreed to achieve a sustainable development model.

In the current context of rapid urbanisation, planning has new challenges to confront, such as slowing down climate change, backing sustainability and fighting against growing social inequality. For this, it is necessary to ensure universal access to basic services such as transport, water, sanitation, energy, communications and equipment.

A highly organised urban model with sufficient equipment and public spaces, affordable housing and sustainable mobility offers people more opportunities of employment and training as well as access to essential services like healthcare and education, among others, thus minimising urban imbalances and inequality.

The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, held in Quito, Ecuador, from 17–20 October 2016, brought together over 35,000 participants and covered all these topics through numerous conferences and events in which the various agents debated and presented their proposals to tackle the urban problems of the future. Among its main conclusions were the pursuit of social inclusion and eradication of poverty, sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity, and the assurance of a sustainable, resilient environmental balance through city planning.

The result of this meeting, translated into the so-called New Urban Agenda, gathered and took on the conclusions and commitments made by the international community in another two global forums of colossal importance for the planet’s development: the historic Paris Agreement on Climate (COP21) in December 2015, in which 195 countries signed the first binding global agreement to reduce global warming and slow down climate change, and the 17 goals of the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.

In the first row, the Ecuadorian Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Ms Ángeles Duarte, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, and the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, former Barcelona mayor Mr Joan Clos.

Mobility for urban development: Ineco’s experience

Ineco, as part of the Spanish government’s delegation, took part in this global conference, presenting its planning, consultancy and transport engineering experience, a field in which we have decades of experience, as well as in other, more recently developed sectors linked to sustainable development, such as management of water resources and waste or smart cities.

The company has taken on an extensive range of engineering and consultancy work in these fields, to which it takes a comprehensive approach, marrying the interests of public administrations, businesses and society, and always including the environmental and social aspect to products through environmental assessments and socialisation projects.

As such, Ineco has successfully completed projects of all kinds in relation to urban and interurban mobility: from technical, economic, financial, legal and environmental impact feasibility studies (such as those performed on the Bi-oceanic Corridor for the governments of Bolivia and Peru) to drawing up projects and supervising infrastructure construction (conventional and high-speed railway lines and stations in Spain, Arabia, Turkey, India, etc.), airports, highways, access to ports and logistics centres, etc.

Among the studies carried out by Ineco to improve bus transport have been the reordering of buses in Algiers, the Bus Transport Strategic Plan in Oman, and the sustainable technology study for the buses of São Paulo. In metro systems, we have extensive experience in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, etc.) and in Medellín, São Paulo and Santiago de Chile. In terms of trams and light metros, also in Spain, we have worked on studies and projects in Madrid, Bilbao, Logroño, Zaragoza, León, Tenerife and Alicante, and on new schemes in Belgrade and Kuwait, as well as studies for tram renovation in Tallinn, in Latvia and in Pavlodar in Kazakhstan. Our suburban railway work includes the comprehensive projects between Caracas and the Valles del Tui in Venezuela, the studies for building a railway system in San José, Costa Rica, the Belgrade Light Metro and the Buenavista-Cuautitlán line in Mexico.

Comprehensive strategic, multimodal planning on a national, regional or local scale is another of the company’s specialities; for over four decades we have cooperated with the Spanish government to develop their national plans –PITVI (the Infrastructure, Transport and Housing Plan) is the most recent– but also with other governments such as those of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Oman and Algeria. Croatia and Malta, which are also planning their national strategies, commissioned a vital part of their plans to Ineco: that of preparing their national transport models (see pages 34-37) which, in Malta’s case, enabled Ineco to take part in the development of the National Transport Strategy, the National Master Plan, and finally the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

On a local level, it is worth mentioning the drawing up of Urban Mobility Plans, management tools to structure mobility policies towards methods for more sustainable movement in municipalities such as Hospitalet de Llobregat (151,000 inhabitants), Logroño (228,000) and A Coruña (244,000), where in addition to optimising public transport we also seek to strengthen non-motorised modes of transport, such as travel by foot or by bicycle.

For example, in Muscat, the capital of Oman, the starting point was one in which there was considerable presence of private vehicles and absence of railway networks, and it was concluded that a new, well-run network of buses would be the basis for the future public transport network. Ineco designed and presented a plan for the city in 2015 (starting with route proposals towards a new management model based on a single transport authority, among many other aspects) and subsequently the Bus Transport Strategic Plan for national public transport operations. The Omani government acquired a modern, state-of-the-art vehicle fleet to equip new urban and long-distance routes, and has put in place, among other means, a new legislative framework which is transforming the public transport system in the Sultanate (see IT57).

Towards the future of the city

Ineco has expanded its activity to planning other public services like water and waste:  as such, it prepared the Master Plan for Comprehensive Waste Management in the Metropolitan District of Quito (see IT58), based on a circular economy strategy with direct application methods and an effective legal framework; and studies for supervising the National Irrigation Plan in Ecuador with the aim of optimising water resource management, and it is elaborating Panama’s National Plan for the Collection and Treatment of Solid Waste, which will set out the means necessary to solve national waste management problems.

For Smart Cities the use of technology enables dynamic, real-time information to be obtained by installing sensors (the “internet of things”) and the vast quantity of data gathered via Big Data platforms to be processed. The Smart City model enables the management of multiple services to be optimised, from waste collection to traffic management, with the resulting benefit to the environment of reducing emissions, energy consumption and water, among other resources. It also enables citizen participation and administrative transparency to be increased. In this field, Ineco is working on the development of its platform CityNECO, with a pilot project for Granada City Council.

In short, the company, which presented some of its projects at Habitat (see News in this issue), believes in and works towards an urban model planned with an agreed comprehensive approach that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, with cleaner air, more space for pedestrians, greater abundance of water and biodiversity, and greater involvement of citizens, at the heart of a more polycentric, fluid urban structure in which information is available to assist people’s development and wellbeing.

How did the ‘Cero Basura’ programme arise?

Climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, excessive exploitation of resources, growth in consumption and waste generation demanded that we think about new avenues to explore.

The project comprises an ensemble of simple actions to ensure that the negative impact on the environment of our day-to-day activities is reduced. The end goal is the reduction and exploitation of resources based on a circular economy for resources: waste generation is reduced and waste is exploited to the maximum in the form of materials and energy.

How have companies and industries reacted to the plan?

The aforementioned unceasing changes are our driving force to promote and integrate environmental action into companies, which can make them more competitive and derive many advantages. Environmental policies, such as this expanded responsibility to which companies must adapt, will boost product sustainability at all stages of the production chain in a positive way. It is also important to note that companies, education institutions and other representatives of the public-private sector have taken part in the construction of the Master Plan, contributing a great deal and getting involved in meeting this target.

Recently you promoted the recovery of recyclable waste at the wholesale market in Quito. How was this experience?

The Environmental Department of Quito’s commitment was to involve traders, zonal administration and recyclers in a joint project that is enjoying success thanks to the participation of everyone. At the moment, 2.1 tonnes a month are recovered from the wholesale market. This is a goal and commitment for everyone to reactivate the economy of many families exploiting waste and looking after the planet using environmental best practices.

With the new plan, will the 2,000 tonnes of waste a day increase, decrease or remain the same?

The Master Plan for Comprehensive Waste Management coincides with the Metropolitan Plan for Development and Land Management 2015-2025, which plans for waste in production to be reduced by 5% per capita as a minimum by 2025 as compared with the production per capita for 2014. This figure, when compared and calculated alongside the annual growth rate of the metropolitan district, suggests that waste generation will increase over the upcoming years from 2,040 tonnes to 2,340 tonnes.

Comprehensive Management in the DMQ seeks for waste disposal to transition towards the circular economy or management of resources, in which waste is exploited to the maximum in the form of materials or energy for non-recoverable materials. Recyclable products and common waste are collected selectively in modern treatment facilities, sorted and explote.

Recyclable waste will go from 12% in 2014 to 22% in 2025, including recovery of recyclable material from the ET-Sur sorting plant. 19 neighbourhoods of Quito and 300 environmental agents will benefit from this increase.

Apart from laws, what is needed for citizens to collaborate in waste management?

Our waste management policy is to ensure integrated waste management under the ‘Cero Basura’ concept and the circular economy, with the focus on participation, co-responsibility of citizens and environmental and social responsibility. But above and beyond citizen obligations and ordinances, we have got directly involved in the community, neighbourhoods, companies, education institutions and other actors in society to raise their awareness and create environmental best practices. Fundamental to this process have been our education campaigns, whose protagonist is anyone who recycles and sorts their waste.

Waste reduction is based on a circular economy of resources

You have initiated several awareness raising campaigns and even a “tour of waste”. Is the public welcoming these initiatives?

More and more, comprehensive waste management requires tools in the value chain (generation prevention, sorting at source and collection, exploitation and treatment, until eventual disposal). The “tour of waste” was a pilot project to include and demonstrate all these processes. We have provided added value including mechanised collection, cutting-edge technology and open days for the media and the general public to visit the Quito landfill site.

We are delighted by the approval the tour has enjoyed in the press and especially among university students, who are surprised that in this city waste can end up as water and be a new source of energy. This motivates us to keep working and help other municipalities in the country in the same way.

It started years ago with work on projects in marginal neighbourhoods of Quito. Have you planned any special actions to reduce and manage waste in the most deprived and vulnerable areas?

The DMQ currently has 96.5% cover for waste collection. We are working every day to achieve our target, which is to reach all neighbourhoods in Quito.

The UN has chosen Quito to host the Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October 2016. What agreements would you like to see there for sustainable urban development?

On those dates –17th to 20th October 2016– the city will bear witness to renewed vigour behind the global commitment to sustainable development and the setting out of a New Urban Agenda, which it is hoped will have a direct impact on urban policy on national, state and municipal levels. Quito has been chosen as the backdrop for numerous activities regarding the various central topics of the conference, in which all will be able to share experiences and responsible proposals aimed at creating safe, resilient, sustainable cities. This leads us to think about a city with integrated solid waste management, with new concepts such as that of ‘Cero Basura’, a commitment that should be extended to all other cities.

Isn’t reducing consumption in consumer societies a contradiction in terms?

It is a great challenge, which cannot be overcome overnight. Changing the consumer’s mindset and consumer culture will help to compare and choose products that are the greatest friends of the environment. Choosing by their origin, suitable packaging and sustainable manufacture will bring industrial change to companies, focusing on eco-designs, secondary resources and clean production.

Education is the key to sustainability. This is why we work daily to ensure more people find out somehow about our work, with consistent campaigns to care for the planet.

It has been said that there is healthy competition among large cities to be the first to be named among the most sustainable. Is this the case?

Clearly there is competition among major cities in terms of their local sustainability activities, and this can be seen not only from official recognition of various initiatives (such as the WWF City Challenge, the C40 City Climate Awards or the Siemens Green City Index), but also from the benefits this brings to their local governments and, most importantly, to their citizens. Recognition as a sustainable city can gain a city more attention from external investors, as well as providing international standing or cooperation on sustainability; it can generate opportunities for the city as a tourist destination as well as leadership and international positioning that open various doors for integration and exchange of experience.

Quito has not only been recognised as the most sustainable city in Ecuador, but was also selected as one of the 17 world finalists for the most sustainable city in the world award, conferred by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Close your eyes. How do you envision the Quito city you hope to achieve with this project?

I dream of – and believe it is possible to achieve – an environmentally responsible city, a time when its growth is in keeping with the natural, rational limit of its ecosystems on land and in the water; a city that thinks about and plans its territory keeping in mind its environmental assets and, as such, minimises the negative impacts of pollution; which preserves and uses in a sustainable way its natural resources and biodiversity, reducing risk; and is resilient to the effects of climate change. Its functioning is based on alternative energies and its mobility motivates citizens to use public spaces, generating collective wellbeing and quality of life for its citizens.

The construction of a mining railway in Burgos at the end of the 19th century soon proved to be an economic failure, but the works led to the discovery of what are now considered some of Europe’s most important archaeological sites: the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (03). A significant part of the old railway trenches have since 2004 been used as a ‘greenway’: a nature path that is signalled, equipped, closed to motorised traffic and conditioned for use by walkers and cyclists. Its 54 kilometres are part of a network of nature paths which, under the registered trademark ‘Vías Verdes’, currently includes 117 routes around all of Spain and more than 2,400 kilometres of track; another 200 are to be added to this by the end of 2016. Each and every one of these routes is built on old, disused railway lines, which in practice means that their layout and gradients make them suitable for all kinds of users, including children, elderly people and people with reduced mobility. When the programme was launched 23 years ago, Spain had 7,600 kilometres of track that was out of service, a third of which has now been recuperated for this new use.

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH

Following the different greenways, visitors are able to enjoy the country’s great variety of natural landscapes and settings both inland and on the coast. For example, the Pas routes in Cantabria, or the Basque and Navarran routes of Bidasoa, Plazaola, or the Basque–Navarre railway (01) (86.2 km) cut across some of the most emblematic landscapes in northern Spain, with lush Atlantic beech and oak forests.

The Piquillo greenway and its continuation through Paseo Itsaslur, between Ontón in Cantabria and Muskiz in Biscay, is a unique route totalling just over 4 kilometres, which follows cliffs (there are plenty of fences) offering spectacular views of the coast. On the Mediterranean coast, there are routes from Catalonia (the Girona greenway network, totalling 125 kilometres) to Levante, such as the Ojos Negros paths (02) running between Castellón and Valencia, an old, 160-kilometre mining route; or the Noroeste greenway in Murcia (76 km). Even the island of Mallorca has a greenway, the Manacor-Artá route (29 km), which is connected by a cycle path to the Cala Millor beach.

CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Andalusia has one of Spain’s longest greenways, the 128-kilometre Aceite route, which crosses Córdoba and Jaén through a landscape of olive groves. Inland, paths which are noteworthy for their length (at around 50 kilometres) are the greenways of Alcaraz in Albacete, La Jara in Toledo, Tajuña in Madrid and Eresma in Segovia. The latter also offers the attractive bonus of a visit to the monumental combination of the city of Segovia and its Roman aqueduct, a World Heritage site. However, this is not the only greenway that is close to a city of tourist interest: the 2.75-kilometre Itálica route allows a visit to Sevilla; the Santander–Mediterráneo railway route (14 km) approaches Burgos and its cathedral, a jewel of Spanish gothic architecture; the Oliver–Valdefierro
Corridor route (2.6 km) passes the city of Zaragoza; and in Catalonia, the Carrilet route reaches its terminus in the old town of Girona.

Those who prefer to submerge themselves in history can visit medieval castles like the Valencia de Don Juan in León (Esla greenway, 11 km), the Bélmez castle in Córdoba (La Maquinilla greenway, 8 km) or the Biar castle (04) in Alicante (Xixarra greenway). On the Eo greenway (12 km), which runs between Asturias and Galicia, visitors can find prehistoric forts and dolmens; and on Huelva’s Molinos de Agua route (33.2 km), there are mines and the remains of Roman roads and megalithic monuments like the Dolmen de Soto. On the Pas greenway, it is worth highlighting the prehistoric caves of Puente Viesgo; and in the town of Baza in Granada, on the Baza greenway, there is a group of historical monuments and an archaeological museum with Iberian remains.

LIVING TREASURES

The Iberian fauna is another natural treasure put in users’ reach by the greenways. Vultures can be observed from the Préjano greenway in La Rioja and the Sierra greenway in Cádiz, for example. On the La Jara greenway (06) is Spain’s oldest recuperation centre for birds of prey; and the Casa del Oso (‘House of the Bear’, 05) (Senda del Oso greenway) located in Proaza, Asturias, is dedicated to the conservation of the Cantabrian brown bear.