Integrated Study of Procurement and Logistic-Operational Optimisation

The Portuguese Government attributed to APDL the competencies of railway infrastructure manager in relation to the Guarda and Leixões railway terminals for a period of 40 years. On the other side of the border, APDL signed a protocol in the past with ZALDESA, manager of the Salamanca logistics platform and, more recently, has shown its interest in developing a dry port in Medina del Campo.

At present, the Port of Leixões has an investment plan that will double the current installed capacity in container handling to about 1.2 million TEU. Leixões plans for this increase to be disposed of by rail, due to environmental issues, operational restrictions and, mainly, infrastructural limitations, given its location in an urban environment, which prevents the expansion of its terminals and its operational and logistics areas. Currently, it is estimated that around 1,800 trucks pass through the port of Leixões per day.

VTM was asked for technical support services to develop a study of demand and logistic-operational optimisation to improve the logistic chains of the railway corridors in the hinterland of the Port of Leixões.

The aim of this integrated study was to analyse relevant information on the market needs to improve the railway corridors’ logistic chains in the hinterland of the Port of Leixões and in particular the advantages of using the logistic platforms of Guarda, Salamanca and Medina del Campo and the possible impacts on the Ports of Leixões, Viana do Castelo and the Douro Waterway of the cargoes handled in the hinterland under study.

The study reached four macro objectives, namely:

• The identification and quantification of cargo handled in the hinterland
• The identification and quantification of the potential to capture the cargo transported by rail
• A detailed analysis of the logistic platforms of Guarda, Salamanca and Medina del Campo
• The analysis of the impact of the planned investment on the ports of Leixões, Viana do Castelo and Via Navegável do Douro.