The European Commission authorised, on Monday 21 March, a €120 million Spanish scheme, made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), to encourage freight traffic to shift from road to sustainable rail transport.
The notified measure, which will apply until 30 June 2026, will be entirely funded by the RRF. The aim is to promote rail as a more environmentally friendly means of transportation and to contribute to the greening of rail transport.
The support will take the form of direct grants to compensate freight companies for the cost difference between road and rail transport based on the actual volumes of freight shifted from road to rail transport. The aid amount is also calculated based on the environmental performance of the rail companies. The scheme is open to all freight companies established in the European Union and possessing all the necessary licences, such as the single safety certificate.
The maximum amount of aid per beneficiary depends on the modal shift achieved. To incentivise freight companies to shift to rail, the concrete aid amounts per beneficiary will depend on the rail freight traffic increase during the previous year. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)