Rail Transport - PRIVATE OPERATORS: STATE AID DAMAGES RAIL BUSINESS

”State aids to the railways in several member states are still causing distortions in the market for rail freight across Europe“. This is the message given by the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), and Rail Freight Group (RFG) at a meeting with EU DG TREN representatives. The meeting was a follow-up to ERFA’s and RFG’s complaint in December 2006 about Deutsche Bahn’s request for political support to finance its expansion policy requiring an investment of up to 15 billion Euros. Furthermore, the request by DB for German Government finance to replace cast iron brake blocks on their wagon fleet by quieter ones would enable DB to have a modernised wagon fleet at Government expense - a benefit not available yet to other wagon owners.
Whereas state aids to fund infrastructure are generally acceptable if all market actors can benefit, the EU DG TREN rules do not allow subventions to operators or customers if they are likely to distort the market.