Financing of Spain’s freight operators is one of the measures supporting rail freight: Spain’s Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has approved €44.37 million for nine operators under the third stage of the economic support programme within the PRTR plan, as reported by Europa Press.

Financing of Spain’s freight operators — €44.37 million
Photo: Wikipedia

The beneficiaries are Renfe, Captrain España, Continental Rail, MEDWAY, CEFSA, Low Cost Rail, CSP Logitren, Transfesa and Traccion Rail. Under the programme’s terms, payouts are uneven and range from €14.7 million to €9,000.

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Financing of Spain’s freight operators: how the payments were set

Several indicators were used to calculate the amounts. These included the wagon load-capacity utilisation rate, the type of locomotives in use, and the increase in traffic from 1 January to 31 December 2024 compared with the average level over the two previous years.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The total support approved for this stage is almost double the initial budget: €44.37 million versus €23.5 million. The difference is expected to be covered using unused funds from the programme’s second stage and other sources, as noted by Ruta del Transporte.

The PRTR rail freight support programme

The aim is to encourage a higher share of rail transport, which currently accounts for less than 5% of Spain’s total freight. The eco-incentive programme for rail transport was launched in 2022 with a total budget of €74.6 million. It is structured in three consecutive stages and provides subsidies for rail services carried out during the year preceding each call.

Results of the first stages: €26.1 million and €21.8 million

In the first stage, completed in 2023, rail companies received €26.1 million. In the second stage, support totalled €21.8 million; Railway Supply has previously described how grants are distributed under the programme.

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