The resumption of one of Europe’s pioneering combined rail-road freight transport services between France and Italy, after an absence from the market of well over two years, continues to remain a distant prospect.
The Autostrada Ferroviaria Alpina (AFA) or Alpine Rolling Highway operated multiple, daily round trips between Aiton, near Chambéry in France, and Orbassano, in proximity to Turin, in northern Italy, for accompanied and unaccompanied semi-trailers, as well as tankers.
It was launched back in 2003 to promote modal shift from road to rail and reduce the number of lorries plying routes through Alpine valleys. At its height, the service was transporting up to 240 accompanied and unaccompanied semi-trailers and tankers daily.
The service, which has benefited from state subsidies and was run by a joint venture company created by SNCF and Trenitalia, came to an abrupt halt at the end of August 2023. It followed a major rockfall in France’s Maurienne Valley, in the Savoie alpine region, which blocked the Paris-Milan rail line, leading to a complete shutdown of freight and passenger traffic.
When the line re-opened at the end of March this year after a 19-month hiatus, the AFA did not resume, the JV company having informed customers that the lack of public funding was making the business economically unviable.
Negotiating new business model
French MP for the Savoie region, Emilie Bonnivard, told RailFreight.com in an interview that the lack of progress in getting the service re-started was due to a number of issues which were proving difficult to resolve.
“Firstly, France has not been able to make decisions on its own, being obliged to act in concert with Italy as this is a joint service. One sticking point we’ve had to address together is that during the closure of the rail line, the public service delegation model under which the AFA operated came to an end. Agreeing with the Italians on how to finance it in the future has been hard-going.”
Impasse over rail operator costs
A second issue focuses on the maintenance costs incurred during the hiatus by the units of SNCF and Trenitalia operating the AFA’s trains, Bonnivard explained.
“Even though the service was closed, these units still had to maintain their equipment in good order which obviously came at a price. They asked both governments for subsidies to cover the costs, which were estimated to total several million euros. However, they were unable to respond to this request as the European Union judged that this amounted to unfair aid to businesses as no service was provided.” It remains an obstacle to the restart of the AFA.
Ferrobonus scheme
As to the new business model, Italy favours one based on the Ferrobonus scheme – a support mechanism which takes the form of a subsidy set at a level that reflects the savings of external costs that rail transport achieves compared to road.
For its part, France has tended to support the previous model of public service delegation. But Bonnivard hinted that the French were coming round to the Ferrobonus scheme “because at some point you have to move forward. It will be more expensive than the previous model but perhaps it can encourage more intermodal freight.”
She was reluctant to project a date when the AFA might resume but underlined that an agreement on the outstanding issues was urgent. “If resolving such issues were the sole responsibility of France I think we’d already have had a breakthrough, but that isn’t the case unfortunately.”