Between extreme weather, infrastructure closures and subsidies being cut, the Italian rail freight sector is running the risk of entering a disastrous crisis. The sector association Fermerci is now urging the government to implement 10 measures aimed at supporting the industry and revamping it. “The sector has already lost 90 million euros in 2023. Without help, its ability-to-pay is disappearing”, the association claimed.
The measures span from financial aid to companies, both at state and regional levels, to faster procedures to pay out subsidies and finally incentives for people interested in starting a career in the industry. It needs to be mentioned that precedents do not paint a significantly optimistic picture, as this is not the first time that the Italian sector reaches out to the government, who doesn’t always lend its ears.
‘We only need 42 million a year’
Seven out of the 10 measures suggested by Fermerci can be linked to the need for financial help. First, the association is asking to reinstate the 55 million euros which were cut from a fund supporting companies purchasing rail rolling stock. “The move of cutting the rolling stock fund by 55 million euros is an injury to the expectations of the company that invested significant amounts for this”, said Fermerci President Clemente Carta.
Moreover, the association asked for 42 million euros per year to be divided in three initiatives, with 40 dedicated to the two main rail freight subsidies in Italy. A first 20 million euros would in fact be added to the FerroBonus measure, taking it to 42 million per year, with another 20 million to increase the Norma Merci to 120 million yearly.
The remaining two million euros would be used to create vouchers to give to those people interested in starting a career in the rail freight industry. “Rail freight is the only within the Italian logistics sector that does not receive funds for training and formation of new personnel”, Fermerci’s general manager Giuseppe Rizzi said. To this end, Rizzi stressed that roughly 96 per cent of the people who take courses to become train drivers then get hired.
More types of FerroBonus are needed
Other than making the national FerroBonus more robust, Fermerci is also asking for the creation of regional ones. A few regions have already implemented such a measure, with Lombardy being the latest addition, pledging 1.4 million euros. On top of these two, a significant help would come from a port FerroBonus, which would allow Italian Port Authorities to give out subsidies to companies carrying out shunting operations in their facility.
Non-financial measures
The remaining measures proposed by Fermerci include better planning when it comes to infrastructure closures. Concerning the many infrastructure closures planned for Italy this year and the next ones, “nobody thought about traffic, it was only about the infrastructure”, said Carta. According to him, the hardships faced by operators were not considered when the infrastructure works were planned.
Finally, the association is asking for a multi-annual support plan in the context of the deployment of ERTMS on rolling stock and a simplification of the bureaucratic procedures necessary to pay out subsidies to the industry. For example, Carta highlighted, the FerroBonus for 2023 has not yet been paid out by the government. Finally, Fermerci is asking for an acceleration in implementing digitalisation measures.