The Swiss Federal Council recently announced that it will transfer some money destined for the Railway Infrastructure Fund (RIF) to boost single wagonload (SWL) traffic in the country. The funds are coming from the so-called heavy vehicle fee (HVF). Contacted by RailFreight.com, the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) highlighted that “there are no signs that the reduced contribution of HVF funds to the RIF will jeopardise future infrastructure maintenance or development projects. The remaining funds in the RIF are sufficient”.
This initiative, as the FOT explained, makes sure that HVF money will remain in the rail freight sector. The plan to boost SWL in Switzerland was drafted by the Federal Council last week and it is now in the hands of the Parliament. “The Swiss Parliament will be able to debate on the proposal in one of the next sessions”, the FOT added. Among the initiatives planned to boost SWL traffic in the Helvetic Federation, the Council’s proposal entails a one-time payment of 192 million euros to start the implementation of the Digital Automatic Coupling. If the Parliament approves the measures, this process can start as early as 2026, the FOT specified.
The Swiss Council’s plan
The Swiss Federal Council proposed an eight-year plan to safeguard single wagonload traffic. For the first four years, they are willing to allocate about 280 million euros so that the sector can gain financial autonomy. Moreover, they proposed an yearly payment of roughly 65 million euros, set for an indefinite period, “as a contribution to handling and loading charges and as a compensation for uncovered costs of ordered freight transport services”.
This initiative comes from the necessity for the Swiss government to make a decision about SWL traffic. In 2022, such services were deemed no longer economically viable and two variants were proposed. The first one would entail no financial support and encourage competition, while the second one concerns extensive financial support from the Swiss government. The Council opted for the latter, and it now remains to be seen if the Parliament will agree.
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