Transport accelerates the decarbonisation and digitalisation of transport companies with almost 246 million in European funds

The 72 beneficiary companies of the Support Programme for Sustainable and Digital Transport, which were awarded more than 445 million euros in 2022 from the European Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan funds, are now facing the final stage of executing their projects before the end of the year, all of them aimed at improving the operations and efficiency of the transport sector and giving greater weight to less polluting modes such as rail.

The success of this programme, which received a very high turnout from companies in its first call, led to the launch of a second edition this year, with a call for more than 40 million euros, which have been distributed in its provisional resolution among 44 business projects, for a final amount of 25.5 million euros. 2.6 million of these funds have been implemented to date, representing 10.6% of the total grant amount.

Thus, adding both calls together, the NextGenerationEU funds are co-financing, on average, 35.7% of the cost of the projects, which will mobilise a total of 1.32 billion. The private sector has received the bulk of the aid, accounting for 86.5% of the total. As of 30 June 2025, 245.9 million euros have been allocated to launch 134 projects for 99 beneficiaries. Of these, 41 have already been completed, including 16 projects to achieve sustainable pavements that contribute to reducing the carbon footprint and noise on Spanish roads.

Boosting rail freight

Rail transport has been the biggest beneficiary of support under the two calls for proposals, with measures to promote rail interoperability, intermodality and the modernisation of rail freight equipment, especially wagons. It should be remembered that the transfer of freight transport from road to rail is the focus of a large part of the Spanish government's policies, since, on average, a train consumes up to 70% less energy than a lorry to transport the same amount of goods over the same distance.

Specifically, 344.3 million euros were awarded to the railway sector for the purchase of 1,932 wagons and 59 electric locomotives; the implementation of onboard ERTMS (Emergency Monitoring System) in 73 locomotives; the replacement of track shoes on 4,155 wagons to reduce braking noise; and the development, construction, and testing of a prototype locomotive equipped with automatic gauge change. 45.7 million euros were earmarked for the construction or renovation of 19 intermodal terminals and private loading bays (provision of UIC gauge tracks, electrification, increase in useful track length). Of all this aid, 184.2 million euros have already been spent on the railway sector.

To date, 13 projects have been completed under these lines of action, with a total subsidy of 31.5 million euros. Of these, the largest subsidy was received by a freight wagon leasing company, which received 10.9 million euros for the purchase of 150 four-axle freight wagons for transporting goods for the steel industry.

Sustainability in other modes of transport

The Support Programme for Sustainable and Digital Transport also focuses its efforts on other modes of transport. Specifically, the maritime sector received subsidies totalling 56 million euros to promote alternative energy in 11 ports of general interest and to build two alternative fuel supply vessels. In addition, subsidies were allocated to three projects for the repowering and adaptation of three transport vessels for shore-based electrical connections and the acquisition of a high-speed catamaran ferry powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas) for the transport of passengers and vehicles.

A further 18.3 million euros were earmarked for the aviation sector, of which 13.3 million had been spent by 30 June. Of this amount, 17.7 million was allocated to the acquisition of 402 ground handling units for flights and the retrofitting of 41 airside units at airports. In addition, 665,445 euros were awarded to execute an under-platform power line project to supply power to aircraft parked at remote locations.

For road transport, nearly 35 million euros were allocated for 29 sustainable pavement production projects; the construction of eight secure car parks with a total of 2,855 spaces; and two hydrogen filling stations; and five Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) implementation projects impacting more than 3,500 kilometres of roads. This is the item with the highest level of completion by mid-2025, with 20 projects completed for a total of 12.7 million euros.

With regard to the digitalisation of freight transport services, the funding in both calls amounted to 17.5 million euros, earmarked for 28 projects aimed at promoting digitalisation and optimising processes in intermodal freight transport hubs, both rail and port. This substantially improves the transmission of information related to the logistics chain, resulting in greater competitiveness, security, and efficiency.

Non official translation