The Spanish Ministry of Transport has awarded EUR 44.37 million to nine public and private rail freight operators as part of the third round of funding for the rail eco-incentive program under the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
The nine beneficiary operators are Renfe, Captrain España, Continental Rail, Medway, CEFSA, Low Cost Rail, CSP Logitren, Transfesa, and Traccion Rail.
The amounts allocated range from EUR 14.7 million to EUR 9,000 per company, with the values calculated based on several variables related to environmental performance: the load factor of the wagons, the type of locomotive used, and the increase in traffic recorded between January 1 and December 31, 2024, compared to the average traffic in the previous two years. Thus, the better the environmental performance, the greater the emissions savings and the higher the incentive granted.
The value of the proposal to award this aid almost doubles the budget allocated through the call, EUR 23.5 million, with the difference to be covered by unallocated funds from the second round of the program and by amounts remaining from other European funding lines.
The objective of the program is to transfer freight transport from road to rail, as road transport generates 12 times more direct greenhouse gas emissions on non-urban sections. This improves the environmental performance of freight transport, reduces dependence on fossil fuels, and rebalances the modal split to increase the share of rail, which currently accounts for less than 5% of the modal share.
The rail eco-incentive program was launched in 2022 with a total budget of EUR 74.6 million for three consecutive calls, each subsidizing rail traffic carried out in the previous year. The first round ended in 2023 with EUR 26.1 million awarded to rail companies for traffic carried in 2022. The second round awarded EUR 21.8 million for operations carried out in 2023.
Share on:
