Financial sustainability of railways in question due to high energy prices

The Community of European Rail and Infrastructure Companies (CER) has urged EU member states to address rising electricity prices. According to CER, “the outlook is worrisome” and EU energy ministers must act to keep the Green Deal alive. Railway Supply magazine writes about this with reference to RailTech.

After a round of consultations in October, CER stated that European Railways pay an average of 200 euros per MWh for electricity. Next year, the average price is forecast to be between 300 and 400 euros per MWh, with freight operators expecting even 500 euros per MWh.

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“The outlook is worrying and it is too costly for railway companies to secure affordable prices or any fixed short-term contracts for the time being”, CER writes. “This is causing major concern for the financial sustainability of railway operations”. The organisation says that member states need to intervene. Railway operators are the largest single electricity customer in Europe, CER notes citing Eurostat data.

CER is calling for action ahead of the EU’s Emergency Council on Transport, Telecommunications and Energy starting on Tuesday 13 December. “We must avoid reverse modal shift, with logistics moving from less polluting to more polluting transport modes. However this is what we will get if electricity prices are not lowered for Services of General Economic Interest such as railways. Failure to redress the situation as a matter of urgency will jeopardise all efforts made in the last decade as well as policies formulated for 2030 and 2050 to promote the green transition of European mobility”, says CER Executive Director Alberto Mazzola.

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