SPANISH shipping line and intermodal logistics company Boluda Shipping has announced the acquisition of the rail freight business of Transfesa from the German government. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
According to Spanish financial newspaper El Economista, Boluda has purchased a majority stake in the company which was formerly wholly owned by DB Cargo, the freight operating business of German Rail (DB) whose sole shareholder is the German government.
Transfesa had a 5.2% share of the national rail freight market in 2024, according to statistics compiled by Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). It recorded 78.1 million tonne-km and moved 781,000 tonnes of freight during the year, figures that were down on 2023 by 22.6% and 16.7% respectively.
According to El Economista, citing official company filings, turnover of €110m at Transfesa was down 1.6% in 2024 from the year before. The company made a loss of €797,579 in 2024, an improvement on the €8.1 loss recorded in 2023.
As well as operating freight trains, Transfesa provides rolling stock maintenance, shunting, and terminal services. The company also operates facilities on the Spanish border at Hendaye and Cerbère in France, where wagons change wheelsets from 1435mm to Iberian 1668mm gauge.
Boluda Shipping says that the acquisition will strength its intermodal logistics services across the Iberian Peninsula, enabling it to offer door-to-door solutions that contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
“Rail freight is establishing itself as a sustainable and efficient transport mode, becoming a strategic pillar of our intermodal logistics,” says Ignacio Boluda, executive chairman of Boluda Shipping.
“This transaction guarantees the continuity and growth of all the activities that Transfesa has been carrying out in Spain to date, which will now be segmented under the umbrella of two large business groups: DB Cargo and Boluda Shipping,” says Transfesa managing director, Idoia Galindo.
