The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has welcomed the latest guidelines from the European Commission (EC) regarding state aid for railway services.
The publication of the Community guidelines for state aid for railway undertakings is designed to provide clearer guidance on the circumstances in which state aid may be paid to railways.
It is also the first time the EC has recognised unlimited state guarantees as being state aid.
Strongly supported by the RFG, the EC now insists that any railway service operating in both the competitive and non-competitive markets must remove all such guarantees from every part of the company's operation.
RFG Chairman Tony Berkeley believes the move to be a positive step towards fair competition in the UK private sector.
"It is now urgent for the commission to investigate proactively and systematically all those member states who may be failing to comply with these new guidelines," he says.
"Now is the time for action by the EC, whose policy is to encourage a liberalised and competitive rail freight market but which is seeing instead many state owned railways buying up the private competition."
By Alex Hawkes
