In the German Federal Parliament's budget adjustment session on 16th November 2023, a new provisional funding programme for single-wagon transport was approved, despite a shortfall of €60 billion from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). From 2024, rail transport companies will receive an additional €299 million to expand single-wagon transport in Germany and make it more competitive. However, the final decisions on the 2024 federal budget are still pending, as the planned budget adoption by the full Parliament has been postponed. The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) welcomes the decision as an important step towards shifting more freight to rail. In contrast, the association Die Güterbahnen criticises the lack of an overall strategy and the announced reduction in non-discriminatory track-access charge subsidies. Die Güterbahnen emphasises that more single-wagon transport can only be achieved by concentrating lower subsidies for the first and last miles and for network investments.
