Rail takes centre stage in the Escola’s first SURCO course of 2022

With the European Year of the Rail coming to an end in December 2021, the Escola’s team continued the momentum and began the new year with an edition of the SURCO Operations II course in national and international railway operations.

SURCO–Simple Use of Railway COnnections – courses take an in-depth look at intermodal rail operations within ports and rail terminals, focusing on the characteristics and benefits of this type of transport. Railway corridors are continuing to grow with the European Commission spending more resources on the development of interoperable and efficient railway motorways that connect all the countries of the economic block (and beyond). Knowledge of the different aspects that surround freight transport along this mode can be extremely beneficial to today’s students and professionals. This is where the SURCO courses come in handy.

Designed for professionals from freight transport companies, freight forwarders and import and export companies, as well as others interested in the use of rail transport, the course carries out an analysis of the different elements necessary to offer efficient intermodal transport solutions. On this occasion, companies such as ViiA, Terminal Maritima de Zaragoza, BASF, LPF Perthus, Renfe, Adif and Puertos del Estado have collaborated with the Escola’s team in the organisation and promotion of the course.

The group of 18 participants came from a myriad of companies, which included public administrations (such as the Port Authorities of Cartagena, Barcelona and Tarragona) and private companies such as rail operators, freight forwarders and import/export companies (including Raminatrans, BioIbérica SAU, Medway and Move Intermodal, among others). Initially scheduled to take place in person, the course had to take a more hybrid format due to the deteriorating situation of the ongoing global health crisis. The theoretical classes focused on management of railway systems, European TEN-T, the impact of rail transport on the environment, contracts and international rail transport, and the costs analysis of railway transport chains. The course included several visits to discover the various railway infrastructures on the border between Spain and France (Port Bou terminal, LFP (transborder tunnel of Pertús) and the intermodal terminal Ambrogio), as well as a case study that made the participants put everything they had learnt into practice. The format of the training impressed all of the participants and offered an all-encompassing vision of freight transport by rail.

This past week the Escola also organised the first course of 2022– an ad hoc training on Maritime Logistics in hybrid format for 39 students of the Universidad del Pacifico in Peru. The Certification in Maritime Logistics took place over 4 days in Barcelona and included practical workshops on a Ro-Pax vessel of Grimaldi Lines as well as visits to the Port of Barcelona and its terminals.

For more information about the Escola, you can head to the website https://escolaeuropea.eu/training/our-courses/#surco .