Budapest → Madrid

Transit

Door-ready adds half the gap between departures — the average wait if your cargo becomes ready at a random moment. On a 3-a-week service that is 1.2 days, and it is the figure a road-versus-rail comparison usually leaves out.

Legs and handovers

2 legs, split where the load changes gauge and the operator hands over.

1. 1
   Budapest BILK → Barcelona Can Tunis

   Rail Cargo Hungaria · Standard (1435 mm) · 1,225 km · 2.5 d
2. 2
   Barcelona Can Tunis → Madrid Abroñigal

   Renfe Mercancías · Iberian (1668 mm) · 1,225 km · 2.5 d

Distance and time are divided evenly across the legs: the registry records corridor totals, and an uneven split would be a guess presented as precision.

Track gauge and borders

The spacing between the rails — whether the wheels can run through, or the load has to change trains.

Countries crossed

HU → AT → DE → FR → ES

Gauge changes

ESBCN

Origin gauge

Standard (1435 mm)

Destination gauge

Iberian (1668 mm)

Loading gauge clearance

The height and width of tunnels and bridges — whether the load fits through. A different constraint from track gauge above: this corridor can have no gauge break at all and still refuse a high-cube container.

40ft standard (8'6") on a container flat

Clears +574 mm

High-cube (9'6") on a container flat

Clears +269 mm

Swap body on a container flat

Clears +495 mm

P400 semi-trailer on a pocket wagon

Clears +50 mm

Profiles are the published maxima for each network's core freight routes. Individual lines differ in both directions, so a load within 50 mm of the limit needs the operator to confirm the specific path. Compare wagon deck heights →