Hupac relaunches Busto Arsizio–Barcelona intermodal service on 9 November

Swiss intermodal operator Hupac will resume its Busto Arsizio–La Llagosta rail shuttle on 9 November with three weekly roundtrips. The relaunch follows the 19 October inauguration of an €80 million terminal upgrade at La Llagosta, on the northern edge of Barcelona, equipping the site with Iberian and standard gauge handling capability.

When and how will the service run?

Trains depart Busto Arsizio toward La Llagosta on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Return workings leave La Llagosta on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The timetable pairs one outbound and one inbound run across most weekdays, producing a near-daily connection between Lombardy and Catalonia. The route feeds Hupac's northern Italian hub at Busto Arsizio — which already handles most of the operator's trans-Alpine volume through Switzerland — into a Mediterranean corridor that has been losing rail freight share to road haulage for several years.

What did the La Llagosta upgrade deliver?

Hupac's €80 million investment reopened the La Llagosta terminal on 19 October. The site now carries gantry cranes, optical character recognition gates and a new IT stack intended to support road-rail intermodal traffic, the operator said at the launch. Four 700-metre loading tracks operate on both Iberian and standard gauge, allowing the terminal to serve rolling stock from either network. Hupac has framed La Llagosta as a regional hub inside the Barcelona metropolitan area.

Who is leading the expansion?

Hupac's Shuttle Net South-West Europe division runs the corridor. Its head, Antonello Vicini, commented on LinkedIn that the Busto Arsizio–La Llagosta route "will be further strengthened by new connections to nearby Tarragona, Madrid and Seville". Other destinations will follow "soon", he wrote. The post does not name start dates, traction suppliers or capacity figures for the planned extensions.

How does dual-gauge capability change the offer?

Spain runs on 1,668 mm Iberian gauge, and intermodal trains from northern Europe have historically required a gauge change at the French border. The new dual-gauge terminal lets operators handle both gauges at a single node on the outskirts of Barcelona, a feature Hupac has cited as central to the upgrade. The operator has not published a tonnage target for the relaunched shuttle, nor has it identified the launch customer accounts.

What remains unconfirmed?

The 9 November start date is firm. Rolling-stock assignments, traction provider and the specific shippers behind the three weekly roundtrips have not been disclosed. The Tarragona, Madrid and Seville extensions remain statements of intent rather than timetabled services, and their viability depends on terminal capacity at each end and timetable slots agreed with infrastructure manager Adif and with Renfe Mercancías.

Hupac is expected to publish first-quarter loading volumes once the shuttle is in regular operation.