Temporary capacity restrictions are one of the most painful thorns in the spine of the rail freight industry in Europe, where major infrastructure projects are being implemented on a large-scale. Spain is now taking some measures to alleviate the problem with a compensation scheme to rail operators for suppression or diversion of traffic and the consequent reduction of volumes.
The guidelines for the scheme were published in the Spanish Official Gazette and it will activate once the Council of Ministers approves it. The aid will be available in case of “elimination of railway paths, the diversion of routes or the reduction in the volume of cargo that trains can transport derived from limitations regarding the maximum permitted length of train circulation or any other circumstance”.
The duration of the restrictions will be considered as impactful if it is longer than seven days. Companies will be eligible for compensation if the volumes lost exceed 10 per cent of the load originally planned for the affected journey. The initiative was welcomed by the Spanish association of rolling stock owners and operators Faprove. “Now, what is needed is to have infrastructure to be able to run”, said manager Andrés Arribas.
No budget set
One curious aspect about this scheme is that it will not have an established budget. The available funds will be made known at each call for applications. If the allocated resources will not be enough to fully cover the subsidy, the amounts will be distributed proportionally among the parties involved. A call for a similar initiative on a European level was also made in Italy and Poland, but such a measure on such a large scale remains unlikely.