[Updated October 16] Hödlmayr has opened a new subsidiary business unit in Barcelona, Spain to provide customers with finished vehicle rail services along the Iberian peninsula.
Hödlmayr Iberia will use blocktrains to move vehicles between Spain and wider Europe, at least partly in response to increased demand from OEM customers for a finished vehicle rail service between Barcelona and Schwertbert in Austria. Hödlmayr said European car manufacturers are already transporting 35,000 vehicles a year in both directions on Hödlmayr’s twice-weekly rail service between the two locations and the company said there is potential for further growth.
Line infrastructure permits Hödlmayr to operate trains made up of 22 wagons on the Barcelona-Schwertberg corridor, moving 264 vehicle units per train.
Hödlmayr said the growth was driven by OEMs seeking more sustainable transport options which is a goal the logistics provider said it shared.
Sylvain Reess has been appointed managing director of Hödlmayr Iberia. Reess moves from Hyundai Glovis, where he was head of finished vehicle logistics for France and Spain. He has also previously worked for Cat Groupe and Sintax Logistica.
CEO Johannes Alexander Hödlmayr said: “I am very happy to be able to provide our customers with an additional, experienced industry expert in the form of Mr. Sylvain Reess as a direct local contact. This allows us to react flexibly and quickly to possible developments.”
Hödlmayr first established the rail service between Barcelona and Schwertberg in 2022 beginning with one weekly train. That has since grown to two weekly departures on Wednesdays and Sundays. The vehicles are consolidated at the UIC terminal in the port of Barcelona. A connection to the Seat Martorell plant is expected in the first half of 2025, and to the port of Tarragona in the first half of 2026.
Last year Hödlmayr also established a rail connection in Romania providing vehicles a direct route by blocktrain to its Romanian compound. The company said rail transport services have been part of its vehicle logistics portfolio for over a decade and it moves vehicles by rail to Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Spain and Romania in close collaboration ÖBB Rail Cargo Group.
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