MADRID, 21 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Association of Owners and Operators of Wagons of Spain (Faprove) has asked the Government that Spain take into account the railway sector as a final consumer of energy, which would make it a beneficiary of support measures against the rise in energy prices.

Faprove has sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport and Energy, together with other European associations, in relation to Council of Europe regulation 2022/1854 on the limitation of energy prices.

This regulation allows Member States to use the excess income resulting from the application of the limitation of market income to finance support measures for final electricity customers.

"The increase in energy prices is endangering the functioning of European supply chains with a real risk of collapse of these, which are highly dependent on rail freight transport," the association argued.

The price of electricity that powers freight trains has risen between 300% and 1,000% compared to the 70% increase in the price of diesel used in road freight transport.

Currently, 50% of rail freight transport services in Spain are carried out using electric traction. For this reason, if the European institutions and the Member States do not adopt new measures, Faprove has warned that the prices of rail freight transport will experience a significant increase in the coming weeks.