Asturias moves 25% of the total of the goods that are transported by railway in Spain through the tunnels of Pajares. The iron and steel products that Arcelor-Mittal moves between the Principality and its plant in Sagunto (Valencia) make up the majority of the material that moves through the tracks that connect the region with the Plateau. Coal, wood and cereals follow. Of course, almost all of them are products that leave the region, but few trains arrive, only between 15 and 17 trains per day. According to the experts, if a mixed transport were allowed in the Pajares Diversion, we could also get more traffic in El Musel and Avilés harbours

Each year, the tunnels of Pajares record the transport of almost five million tons of goods, to which we have to add another 1.5 million of internal transport between El Musel and the thermal power plant of Aboño. In total, six million tons out of 20.8 that are moving by railway in the country, according to the official data of the RENFE committee in the region.

Arcelor-Mittal moves through Pajares 350,000 tons a year of iron and steel material, which translates into 12 daily trains to Sagunto carrying 1,000 tons each, the maximum load allowed in the railway transport through that passage to the Plateau. Sometimes there are also some trains that go to the Basque Country, although not many.

Coal occupies the second place. Every day, four trains loaded with this mineral pass through Pajares, from El Musel to La Robla and Ponferrada thermal power plants, both in León. Two of the convoys belong to Renfe and two belong to the private company COMSA, according to the information provided by the chairman of the Renfe committee in Asturias, Luis Blanco - the company, despite the request made, has not provided the figures.

Apart from coal and iron and steel products, the daily passage along the Pajares tracks adds a train loaded with 1,000 tons of wood and another two trains loaded with cereals.

In Asturias, another million and a half ton of coal is moved between El Musel and Aboño thermal power plant. It is a transport by metric width made by Logirail, a company 100% owned by Renfe.

The technical reports that have been made so far agree that if mixed traffic were allowed through the Pajares Diversion when the High Speed arrives in Asturias, new traffic could be captured for the two Asturian harbours. However, there are no technical analyses yet comparing the current traffic and the one that could be captured with the new infrastructures.