The European Commission approved, on Wednesday 25 November, two measures taken by Austria to assist the rail freight sector and one measure to benefit rail passenger transport in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the Commission in charge of Competition Policy, the measures approved will enable the Austrian authorities to assist not only rail freight transport operators, but also commercial passenger operators in the context of the pandemic.
The first measure amends the 2020 budget of an existing aid scheme, which will cover grants totalling an estimated 150.7 million euros in 2020.
The second measure (115.7 million euros) will enable Austria to relieve rail freight operators of the costs related to track access charges for the period between 1 March and 31 December 2020.
The third measure introduces a temporary relief for commercial rail passenger transport operators. With a budget of approximately 9 million euros, this measure will waive the track access charges payable by commercial rail passenger service operators for the period between 8 October and 31 December 2020. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)