The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) said that Track Access Charges (TACs) in the country will increase by 2.1 per cent as of 1 January 2025. The figure chosen by the FOT was established to be as moderate as possible, taking into account the worries expressed by the sector. For the rail freight sector in Switzerland, this means an extra cost of 6 million euros.

According to Swiss law, TACs need to cover the direct costs derived from the use of the rail infrastructure, labelled as marginal costs. The FOT revises these marginal costs every four years, meaning the last revision occurred in 2021. In Switzerland, TACs are supposed to bear one-third of the infrastructure costs, with the remaining two-thirds of the funds coming from the state.

An EU-wide problem

Track access charges are rising in many European countries to the dismay of the rail sector, especially the freight segment. For 2024, the Netherlands increased its TACs by 10.5 per cent. More recently, Germany announced the largest TAC increase ever, with a 16.2 per cent rise that led to eleven companies filing a lawsuit against the Bundesnetzagentur. Sweden and Portugal also decided to implement higher TACs, with 40 per cent and 8 per cent hikes respectively.

However, all these countries gave at least a decent notice period before implementing higher TACs. In Hungary, this was not the case, as the government recently decided to increase TACs by 14 per cent as of September 2024. This was the first time that these fees in Hungary were modified in the midst of the year instead of when timetables are drafted. European associations, such as the European Rail Freight Association, have been quite vocal about the need for an EU collective TAC approach to ensure fair competition.

It needs to be mentioned that there are a couple of exceptions in the Old Continent. In April, for example, Spain introduced a scheme to supervise the TACs implemented by the country’s infrastructure manager Adif. In addition, Romania decided to reduce TACs by 33 per cent for some intermodal services, provided that they meet certain requirements.

Also read:

• Swiss and German ministries spearhead CargoBeamer’s terminal expansion
• Swiss Council asks for public funds to invest in private rail freight facilities
• Germany, Austria and Switzerland ask for EU-wide DAC commitment