Operators have until 1 April 2024 to apply for the European funds, within the framework of the second call of the railway eco-incentive programme of the Recovery Plan.
Transport opens the deadline to apply for 25 million euros in aid
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Transport opens the deadline to apply for 25 million euros in aid
The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has opened the application period for the second call of the railway eco-incentive, with 25 million euros from the NextGenerationEU funds. The objective of the subsidies, aimed at railway operators, is to contribute to boosting freight traffic by train, improve the environmental performance of the activity and rebalance the modal split to increase the weight of the train.
The period to apply for the funds to subsidise eligible traffic carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2023, began on 1 January and will be open until 1 April 2024.
The documentation shall be submitted electronically on the subsidy management portal of the Ministry’s website. If the credit requested by the interested entities exceeds the available budget, the maximum global amount will be prorated among the beneficiaries of the subsidy.
Maximum aid
To be eligible for aid, potential beneficiaries must have recorded traffic in 2023 greater than or equal to the average traffic during the same period in the previous two years, as well as achieving an occupancy rate or efficiency of more than 20%, among other requirements.
The proposed incentive is accrued according to the tonne-kilometres transported on the General Interest Railway Network and the environmental performance of this transport. Thus, companies will receive more or less aid depending on the evolution of their activity, the occupancy of their freight wagons or the type of locomotive traction.
Thus, more aid will be given to electric traction than to diesel traction and a higher degree of occupancy of freight wagons will be rewarded. For example, if an operator used electric locomotives in all its movements, registered an occupancy rate greater than or equal to 40% and increased its activity by at least 8%, it will be eligible for a maximum eco-incentive of 0.78 euro cents per net tonne-kilometre transported. If it operated with diesel traction (335/Euro 4000 series locomotives) and met the other efficiency and growth assumptions, the maximum subsidy it is eligible for is 0.46 euro cents per net tonne-kilometre transported.
If the increase in traffic is less than 8%, the maximum aid will be reduced in line with the growth rate. In other words, the eco-incentive is adjusted by a linear proportion between the minimum, which is 50% of the maximum, and the maximum fixed. In any case, the annual amount of the subsidy must be less than 30% of the total cost of rail transport borne by the operator.
Transforming freight transport
The eco-incentives programme is aimed at transforming the freight transport system, which implies requirements and changes on the part of its actors. This aid is part of the Sustainable and Digital Transport Support Programme included in Component 6 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
Specifically, the railway eco-incentive programme has a triple objective: to consolidate and increase the modal share of the railway within multimodal chains as an alternative in freight transport, to help operators increase their traffic by making the railway offers more attractive to customers and to improve their environmental performance by encouraging the use of electric traction systems and improving their efficiency.
Other calls for tenders
In the first call, finally resolved in December 2023, Transportes awarded 26.1 million euros to eight rail freight operators: Renfe Mercancías, Captrain España, Medway, Transfesa Logistics, Low Cost Rail, CSP Logitren, Go Transport Servicios and CEFSA. The amounts were awarded based on traffic between April and December 2022, which was an improvement on the same period last year.
The third call for applications under this programme will be published in the coming weeks, corresponding to traffic carried out during 2024, with an expected credit allocation similar to the two previous calls.