Dutch infrastructure manager (IM) ProRail will raise track access charges (TAC) by an average of four per cent for the period of 2026-2029. The new pricing does not yet include an inflation indexation, and a brand new rail fee is to be introduced after 2029 as well. Dutch branch organisation RailGood has not taken well to the news.
ProRail says that higher TACs are necessary because the IM’s costs have grown. It conducts more maintenance operations, and climate change impact poses a challenge that grows ProRail’s expenditures.
The new 2026 TACs will amount to 0,5928 euros per kilometre for the lowest weight class (up to 120 tonnes) and to 2,7507 euros per kilometre for the highest weight class (from 3,201 tonnes onwards). There are seven weight classes in total. These prices are still subject to an inflation correction, so the final numbers are almost certain to be higher. ProRail will announce the inflation indexation in early 2025.
The infrastructure manager says that it tries to spread the burden fairly across the rail sector: “The intention is that passenger and freight carriers experience approximately the same increase. In doing so, we take into account the expiration of a subsidy scheme for freight carriers that is currently still applicable.”
Branch organisation reacts
Hans-Willem Vroon, director of the Dutch rail freight organisation RailGood, criticises the further growth of TACs in the Netherlands: “The market playing field is not getting any fairer”, he says.
According to Vroon, rail freight is too expensive, and TACs should be lowered rather than raised to make the sector more competitive. At the same time, the current rail fees do not reflect the infrastructure’s functioning, says Vroon. “The infrastructure is a burden all too often and unavailable for freight transportation”, he says, adding that ProRail is not delivering the quality of work one would expect when paying the current TACs.
Whereas the fees for shunting are decreasing from 2026, Vroon points out, the subsidies for it are also disappearing. The one remaining positive thing, according to Vroon, is that an additional recently approved rail fee will not be implemented until after 2029. But all in all, he says, “the financial pressure on rail freight is growing.”