From 2027, road freight transport must include the following: the cost of your carbon dioxide emissions, which will eventually punish you. This is one of the main reasons why the Spanish Government has abandoned the option of charging tolls on motorways, as Secretary General for Infrastructure Xavier Flores noted yesterday at one of the roundtables at the Corredor 360 Conference. The entry into force of new European measures to reduce emissions in 2027 will mean: a radical change”. “The externalities of our activity will have to be recognized as costs,” he said. This will also affect road transportation.
The general secretary reminded that PSOE stated in the campaign that it would withdraw its offer. Toll application on all highways. “This has been achieved but this does not mean that other measures have been ignored and the emissions bank is a very clear measure,” he said. Because road transport companies will have to undergo an assessment of their emissions, either paying more for them or seeking compensation for said emissions.
“Convince the public”
A few minutes ago, Carlo Secchi, the European Union’s Atlantic Corridor coordinator, emphasized: the EU Maintains the “polluter pays” principle”, but it is up to governments how to implement this. There are tolls on motorways in Italy; In Germany, a special toll will be applied to heavy vehicles worth 6 billion euros annually to be used in road maintenance, and in Switzerland, restrictions will be imposed on heavy traffic. “carrot and stick” system, Penalizing transport that crosses the country and prioritizing other emission-free modes of transport.
Secchi called for “convincing the public” of the reasons why activities that emit carbon dioxide should be penalized. “It will be necessary to use an emissions trading scheme, penalize polluters and give incentives to clean energy railways,” he emphasized.
There is “life” beyond railway corridors
Medway general manager Bruno Silva and Railsider Mediterráneo general manager Pablo Antolín evaluated the implementation of the Mercancias 30 Plan. Shifting at least 10% of road freight transportation to railways. Silva emphasized that the plan is ambitious and optimistic due to the integration in the planning of connection corridors with ports, but also supports the renewal of the fleet. “The real incentive will be prices,” he emphasized. Antolín, on the other hand, argued that other secondary railway infrastructures that are not part of corridor structures should not be forgotten, because even with improvements there may be an opportunity for traffic, for example shorter trains. In this sense, Xavier Flores shared this vision, but emphasized that it will be key for companies to have projects and logistics plans that will make this possible. “It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or brown, what matters is that it catches mice,” he said figuratively.
Economic and budget scenario
In conclusion, Carlo Secchi warned that the debate on transport policy is sound, given the distribution of money from the new European budget framework for the period 2028-2034. “It seems far away, but it’s already on the table, very discreetly.” Significant investments are ongoing to achieve this homogeneous and barrier-free network. Europe is penetrated by rail, especially by connections between countries. And he estimated that the amount that would be required at that time to achieve the set goals was more than 30,000 million. He also warned that the economic context will be different due to the exhaustion of post-Covid Recovery funds ending in 2026 and the creation of a scenario of uncertainty due to war conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine.