UK freight companies could benefit from 65 million euros of funding, to support the shift of freight transport from roads to more environmentally friendly modes.
Road congestion in the UK could cost the UK economy up to £16 billion per year by 2025, according to the Confederation of British Industry.
The European Commission’s Marco Polo programme provides 450 million euros of co-funding for direct modal-shift or traffic avoidance projects and schemes providing supporting services which enable freight to switch from road to other modes efficiently and profitably.
Modal shift projects are selected on the basis that they make economic sense in current market conditions, but need some help to get off the ground.
Between 2007 and 2009, of the 70 projects which received grants, 57 were for modal shift actions.
Some 164 grants have been awarded so far. One was for a a combined short-sea and rail container services for refrigerated and general cargo to compete with trucks on the route from Spain to the Netherlands and the UK, set up by MacAndrews.
