One more step towards the realisation of the largest railroad terminal for merchandise of the Iberian Peninsula has been taken. The City Hall of Vila Nova de Famalicão proceeded to the acquisition of three parcels of land that will serve for the widening and improvement of the road foreseen for the Execution Unit of the Business Hosting Area of Lousado, Esmeriz and Cabeçudos. In total, an area corresponding to 3904 m2 has been acquired, in the parish of Lousado and in the Parish Union of Esmeriz and Cabeçudos, representing an investment of around 122 thousand euros.
With these acquisitions, the local authority is following up on the commitment assumed in the urbanization contract signed with Medway and the remaining promoters, in January of last year, for the Execution Unit of the Entrepreneurial Hosting Area of Lousado, Esmeriz and Cabeçudos, where the enterprise will be located.
In this agreement, it was agreed that, in addition to the creation of an execution unit that aims to provide the entire area surrounding the terminal with adjusted infrastructural conditions, the Municipality would also be responsible for creating a new road to allow access from the Lousado industrial area to the Railway Terminal, connecting to the parish of Cabeçudos and the national and structured road network with a dimension for heavy traffic.
The Iberian Peninsula Railroad Goods Terminal, as it is called, will have four 750-metre railroad lines. The terminal, which will be located in the south of the municipality, will have an area of 220,000 square metres and capacity for 11,000 TEUs (each TEU is equivalent to around 6.1 metres, the length of a standard goods container).
The construction of the rail freight terminal is the responsibility of Medway, Portugal's leading rail freight company, and will result in an estimated investment of 63 million euros.