{"id":1760,"date":"2024-01-11T21:06:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T11:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=49184"},"modified":"2024-01-11T21:06:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T11:06:31","slug":"dutch-government-to-provide-24-million-in-ertms-subsidies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=1760","title":{"rendered":"Dutch government to provide 24 million in ERTMS subsidies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dutch government will provide subsidies amounting to 24 million euros for the adaptation of rail vehicles to level 2, baseline 3 or higher of the European Train Control System (ETCS). The regulation is aimed at curbing the negative impact of ERTMS upgrade costs incurred by operators, which do not stand to benefit financially from upgrading rail vehicles.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The subsidy regulation will enter into effect in Q2 or Q3 of 2024 and last for five years. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management describes the regulation as the successor to a prior ERTMS subsidy programme that ran from 2018 to 2023. That regulation enabled the provision of subsidies for the development and adaptation of rail vehicles suitable for ETCS level 2. The new regulation is solely aimed at the adaptation of rail vehicles to ETCS level 2 and baseline 3, including both retrofitting and upgrades of ETCS systems.<\/p>\n

From ATB to ERTMS<\/h2>\n

The Ministry aims to facilitate a switch from the Dutch ATB security system to the European ERTMS system. According to the Ministry, European countries aim to make the important rail freight corridors compatible with ERTMS to develop continent-wide rail traffic. Rail operators, however, do not stand to gain financially from the regular ERTMS upgrades. The Dutch Ministry now seeks to partially alleviate the burden these operators are met with. In 2019, the Dutch railway sector stated that the switch to ERTMS would cost 90 million euros in total. For this purpose, the European Commission allocated 21 million euros<\/a> to the Netherlands in August 2023.<\/p>\n

Interested parties will have the opportunity to apply for subsidies until 1 April 2025 and will be obliged to finalize the installation of the subsidized system by 1 July 2028. The Ministry may provide a subsidy amounting to 50 per cent of the incurred costs, with additional maximum limits applicable to each eligible rail vehicle type. The eligible vehicle types as identified by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management include the models BR189, ES64F4, TRAXX, DE6400, G1206, G2000, Vossloh HLD77 and Class 66.<\/p>\n

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