Fruit and vegetable exports from Almería were worth more than €4 billion in 2025, and Renfe Mercancías wants a share of that freight on rail. The Spanish national operator is preparing a new rail highway linking the southern province to the Mediterranean Corridor once a new railway north to Murcia is complete.

General manager Imanol Leza met producers' association COEXPHAL to discuss the plan. The new line would give Almería a fast connection to the Mediterranean Corridor, part of the TEN-T network, and open rail-based export routes for a region that currently moves its produce overwhelmingly by road.

"The Almería fruit and vegetable sector is of great interest to us because it represents a significant business opportunity for Renfe," Leza said, according to local media.

What would the service carry?

Renfe Mercancías expects to transport semi-trailers and refrigerated containers on standard-gauge tracks. The operator projects a transit time of three days to Central Europe, positioning rail as a competitive alternative to road haulage for temperature-sensitive cargo.

That claim remains a projection. The corridor cannot launch until infrastructure works on the Almería–Murcia railway are finished, and no start date for the service has been announced.

Next steps

Meeting participants, including a local government representative and a rail association representative, agreed to organise a working day before the end of the year to promote rail freight and intermodal operations. COEXPHAL says Renfe, infrastructure manager Adif, logistics operators, ports and local businesses should attend.

Spain's growing rail highway network

The Almería project would join an expanding list of Spanish rail highways:

• Valencia–Portugal via Madrid: already in operation
• Algeciras–Zaragoza: planned launch after infrastructure works
• Huelva–Córdoba: piloted last summer
• Santander–Madrid: under consideration by the Port of Santander

For Renfe Mercancías, the Almería corridor would convert one of Spain's most valuable agricultural export sectors into rail traffic — provided the Murcia line's completion timeline holds.