Belgium to encourage night trains by covering energy and access charges in ‘European first’
To encourage railway operators to run night trains to and from Belgium, the federal government wants to cover the costs of using the rail infrastructure and energy charges. A proposal for this that was submitted...Read more
Hungarian track access charges could be reduced by 40 percent
The Hungarian government has proposed a 40-percent reduction of track access charges on the national railway network. This would be realised by a temporary cancellation of the surcharge, which is an additional fee to be...Read more
Will continued pandemic-related rail support help in reaching 2030 goals?
Pandemic-related support schemes for the railway sector via adjusted track access charges could be a longer-term measure to support the modal shift to rail. This was discussed at last week’s Track Access Charges Summit held...Read more
EU approves 20-billion-euro German state aid scheme for war-related losses, rail also benefits
The European Commission has approved a 20-billion-euro German state aid scheme to aid domestic companies that have suffered due to the war in Ukraine and related sanctions. The scheme concerns companies in all sectors, and...Read more
Was waiving track access charges actually a good idea?
Throughout the pandemic, track access charges were reduced, mark-ups were waived and infrastructure managers were compensated, in order to support the rail sector in these difficult times. Now that the pandemic is making its retreat,...Read more
The critical issue of un-unified European railways
OpinionThe objective which should unite the European railways is to break the chains of national rules, which keep railways essentially locked in their home countries.Read more
‘There is a strong will to improve the conditions for night trains’
InterviewNight trains are making a comeback as a more sustainable long-distance transport. There are however quite some challenges, such as high costs and different standards across countries. “The infrastructure is there, so it should be...Read more
Spain extends lower rail fees for 2022
In order to mitigate the effects of the crisis caused by Covid-19 on rail transport, Spain extends the reduced track access charges. This was detailed in one of the amendments to the General State Budgets...Read more
Rail before road in new German government plans
The new German coalition will invest ‘considerably more in the railways than in the roads’. The SPD, Greens and FDP presented their plans in a coalition agreement on Wednesday, which include plans to lower infrastructure...Read more‘Flight tax more important for shift to rail than lower track access charges’
“We have to reduce track access charges, and especially Germany has a problem with this”, said Oldag Caspar of Germanwatch during a panel discussion at the arrival of the Connecting Europe Express in Berlin. But,...Read more
France halves track access charges until 2024
The French government will invest 170 million euros per year until 2024 in the rail freight industry. Among other measures, half of the track access charges will be subsidised. It wants to double the transport...Read more
Night train subsidy Stockholm-Hamburg leads to critique
The fact that Swedish operator SJ will run a new night train from Stockholm to Hamburg is not seen as fair by everyone. The train, with government subsidy, will run on days that private operator...Read more
Head of Eurostar: use aviation tax to reduce track access charges
Eurostar boss Jacques Damas is calling for an aviation tax, the proceeds of which will be used to reduce the costs to use rail infrastructure. In this way, the price of train tickets can be...Read more