Höegh Autoliners ships 60 railcars from Spain to Colombia for the expansion of the Medellin Metro network which will help to reduce the congestion of its 2.5 mln inhabitants, writes the company’s press release.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), a Spanish world leading manufacturer of rail cars with factories in Zaragona and Beasain, has been contracted to provide 20 trains of 3 carriages each, to Medellin, Colombia for the expansion of the city’s metro network. To handle the logistics operations, CAF chose Universal Global Logistics (UGL), a forwarding company of Marmedsa Noatum Group, who in turn awarded the sea transportation of the cargo to Höegh Autoliners.

In late October, UGL arranged for the railcars to be loaded directly onto semi-trailers at the CAF plant in Zaragona and transported to the port of Sagunto. There the new trains were loaded on board Höegh Beijing with the help of Höegh’s specialized rolltrailers, allowing the railcars to be directly rolled on and off the vessel. This eliminates the need for crane lifting in both load and discharge ports, reducing the risk of damage to the cargo and ensuring a safer and more efficient operation.

The railcars will be discharged in Cartagena around 8,000 km away, and then transported 650 km overland to Medellin.