On Tuesday 7 December, the European Commission authorised a Swedish State aid package in the amount of €133 million to support the rail freight and rail passenger transport sectors in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Support under the scheme will take the form of a reduction of the charges due by railway undertakings to access rail infrastructure in both the rail freight and the rail passenger sectors.
The measure will thereby help prevent the loss of market shares of rail transport vis-à-vis competing modes of transport and encourage the shift of freight and passenger traffic from road to rail.
The aid scheme will relieve rail freight and passenger operators of part of the costs linked to infrastructure charges due for the period from 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2021.
The Commission found that the scheme is beneficial for the environment and for mobility as it supports rail transport, which is less polluting than road transport, while also decreasing road congestion. It also found that the measure is proportionate and necessary to achieve the objective pursued, namely to support the modal shift from road to rail whilst not leading to undue competition distortions. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)