In accordance with the European State aid rules and the Railway Guidelines, on 2 August 2021 the Commission approved German schemes worth over €2.5 billion to support the rail freight sector and the long-distance rail passenger sector in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.

The support will take the form of a reduction of the charges paid by railway companies to access rail infrastructure in both therail freight and the long-distance rail passenger sectors. More particularly, with regard to the rail freight sector, by amending an existing aid scheme of 2018 and with an estimated budget of €410 million, the measure increases the support approximately 98% of the infrastructure charges paid by rail freight operators during the period from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2021. The second measure, which has an estimated budget of €2.1 billion, will relieve long-distance rail passenger operators of approximately 98% of the infrastructure charges paid during the period from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2022. 

Besides being in line with the Regulation (EU) 2020/1429, which allows and encourages Member States to temporarily authorise the reduction, waiver or deferral of charges for accessing rail infrastructure below direct costs, the measures are also beneficial for the environment and for mobility as they support rail transport, which is less polluting than road transport, while also decreasing road congestion.

Esmeralda Dedej