The Government launches a plan of 8,000 million euros to double the transport of goods by train

It is almost five times more efficient than the road

MADRID, 7 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has published the definitive version of the Mercancías 30 initiative, a plan that contemplates actions for more than 8,000 million euros and that aims to double the share of rail freight transport to 10% for the year 2030, compared to the current 5%.

This latest version incorporates the contributions made by the representatives of the main associations of shippers and logistics operators and of the railway freight transport companies, after the first presentation of the plan in October 2021.

The plan includes actions aimed at infrastructures, terminals, improvements in capacity management, promotion of rail highways, digitization and a program of aid to companies, to improve the competitiveness and complementarity of this sector with other modes of transport.

The Ministry argues that the railway is almost five times more efficient than the road and its direct emissions are 12 times lower in non-urban areas, so it stands as a "fundamental lever" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the efficiency of land transport, carried out mainly by road, which represents almost 95% of these emissions.

The planned investments in the short and medium term are financed in part from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and in another part from the General State Budgets (PGE).

Thus, the Ministry headed by Raquel Sánchez will allocate some 1,500 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR) to boost the efficiency of the freight transport and distribution system, by promoting intermodality and the modernization and improvement of nodes of distribution, emphasizing the rail system.

The support program for sustainable and digital transport includes more than 300 million euros from the PRTR in aid to companies in the railway field for actions such as the implementation of the ERTMS standard in railway vehicles, the purchase and renewal of wagons or locomotives with criteria environmental issues, the adaptation or improvement of private cargo terminals and their connections to the railway network or digitization.

Together with these measures, the Mercancías 30 initiative also plans to define aid of 900 million euros for railway companies that may be significantly affected by temporary capacity restrictions derived from actions on the infrastructure and other items, in order to keep freight charges low. the operators pay the infrastructure manager for the use of the rail network.