{"id":222181,"date":"2025-05-23T17:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=62733"},"modified":"2025-05-23T17:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:30:32","slug":"frances-transport-minister-backs-rail-freight-operators-want-law-not-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=222181","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s transport minister backs rail freight\u2014operators want law, not promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

France\u2019s Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, has pledged to support the rail freight sector with increased public funding and hinted at a possible eco-tax on trucks to rebalance competition with road haulage. The French rail industry welcomed the shift but warned that political declarations must now give way to legally binding financial commitments.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u201cCertainly, there is an urgent need to guarantee rail freight operators fair market conditions in relation to road haulage,\u201d said Rapha\u00ebl Doutrebente, chairman of the Alliance 4F and head of Europorte, in an interview with RailFreight.com. \u201cNow is not the time to make observations: it\u2019s time to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed out that road freight currently enjoys free infrastructure access and multiple forms of aid in France, while rail freight pays usage tolls. \u201cIt\u2019s vital to redress the balance of power. This is the purpose of the operating aid dedicated to rail freight, which aims to compensate for these distortions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Strong decisions\u2019 must follow the political words<\/h2>\n

Beyond short-term financial correction, Doutrebente laid out clear expectations for long-term support: \u201cWe are calling for this conference to become a real turning point by immediately confirming the announced investment trajectory, securing the 4 billion euro Ulysse Fret investment programme, and writing it into a Planning Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised that the Ulysse programme must target infrastructure modernisation and enable traffic to bypass congested nodes through joint public-private investment. \u201cThis target is achievable if strong decisions are taken. But it\u2019s not enough just to be ambitious. We need to remove the structural obstacles.\u201d<\/p>\n