EUROPE: ‘We need to think about the role of public money in rail freight strategically’, European Rail Freight Association President Dirk Stahl said when the organisation set out its position on the European Commission’s proposal to reform state aid rules for land and multimodal transport.
‘There is a limited amount of money which rail freight can avail itself of and we need to ensure any money is granted wisely. On top of this, we must also always be aware of the risks arising from introducing state support into a competitive market.’
On September 20, ERFA said it supported the Commission’s proposal not to create a special regime for restructuring of rail freight divisions, saying ‘restructuring aid is highly distortive as it usually benefits one operator and removes incentives for rail freight companies to be financially responsible’. ERFA believes Normal State Aid rules for restructuring should therefore apply.
ERFA also said operational aid should be limited, and not used to support or incentivise declining business models. Instead the Commission should seek to support the rail freight sector through indirect measures such as reducing track access charges.
The association welcomed the proposal to increase the threshold for support for ERTMS deployment to 80%. It says ERTMS is one of the main financial priorities for funding, and it would support increasing the threshold to 100%.
