Through a structured package of public subsidies linked to Spain’s recovery and resilience plan and NextGenerationEU funds, MSC-controlled freight rail company Medway has built up potential access to around €30 million in public support in the Iberian market. The funding is spread over several years and across various schemes designed to encourage rail freight. The regulatory framework behind this support is the “rail eco-incentives” programme established by the Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible (Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility) under the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia (Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan), backed by NextGenerationEU funds. The programme has an overall budget of around €74.6 million, divided among three annual calls covering traffic in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.
The subsidies are available to freight operators running services on the Red Ferroviaria de Interés General (General Interest Railway Network, RFIG) and are intended to shift freight volumes from road to rail, improving the sector’s environmental performance. Eligibility depends on maintaining or increasing traffic compared with the average for the previous two years, while the amount awarded to each operator cannot exceed 30% of eligible costs.
Under the second eco-incentive call, covering traffic in 2023, the ministry allocated around €21.8 million to seven private operators: Captrain España, Continental Rail, Medway, Csp Logitren, Cefsa, Low Cost Rail and Go Transport Servicios. Captrain received the largest share, at around €11.1 million, followed by Continental Rail with €5.41 million and Medway with €3.73 million. The remainder was divided among the other operators. A third call, with an initial allocation of €23.5 million for traffic in 2024, is already planned. This suggests that similar amounts could be available to operators continuing to expand their activities, including Medway.
The overall €30 million figure attributed to Medway therefore does not represent a single payment. Instead, it is the combined value of the company’s shares under several eco-incentive calls - the first, second and forthcoming third - together with other forms of support for rail transport under the PRTR and regional programmes, particularly those linked to Extremadura’s intermodal terminals. It is therefore a “theoretical ceiling” associated with traffic volumes and projects spanning several financial years.
The regional element is central to understanding Medway’s position in the Spanish market. Through a public-private partnership with Extremadura Avante (the Extremadura regional development agency), the operator manages the region’s three main rail terminals: Badajoz, Mérida and Navalmoral de la Mata. Operating plans provide for a total of 18 trains a week across the three locations, with nine inbound and nine outbound services. Medway is also contractually committed to gradually increasing traffic by eight trains a week during the first decade of operations. This strategy makes Medway a natural beneficiary of Spain’s modal-shift incentive programmes, as the operator connects maritime ports, the Iberian hinterland and international corridors with Portugal.
