{"id":154627,"date":"2024-12-04T18:27:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T08:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=58326"},"modified":"2024-12-04T18:27:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T08:27:46","slug":"if-we-dont-take-risks-subsidies-in-france-might-disappear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=154627","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If we don\u2019t take risks, subsidies in France might disappear\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rail freight operators in France have been urged to \u201cdare to do\u201d if they want to capture the attention of public institutions and enhance their appeal to shippers. According to Alexandre Gallo, head of DB Cargo France and President of French rail association AFRA, it is necessary to take some risks for the industry to strengthen its position and not lose out on subsidies.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Speaking at the annual conference of industry body, Objectif-OFP, Gallo acknowledged that a major handicap facing the French sector continues to be the limited amount of \u201cresidual capacity\u201d on a lack of flexibility to either obtain train paths at the last minute or for the launch of new services. But overall, the current environment for rail freight is rather auspicious, in his opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve got shippers who want to work with us and there is a wide range of public aid available to the sector which is in place to restore a certain economic balance (with road haulage). For example, there are subsidies for operations, start-up grants and energy saving certificates for the purchase of equipment such as swap bodies and wagons. And I’m confident that at some point we’ll be able to obtain financing for locomotives, as is the case in Spain and other European countries,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n