HUNGRAIL: the Railway Single Wagon Freight Transport Support Program must be maintained in the coming years

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 24. 09:27

The VEKT (Railway Single Wagon Freight Transport) subsidy program must be maintained this year as well and it is important to extend it for another five years after 2026, the Hungarian Railway Association HUNGRAIL announced.

They added that the year 2024 was evaluated at the last HUNGRAIL single wagon working group meeting.

According to the statement, the performance of railway single wagon transport increased significantly last year, which supports the effectiveness of the VEKT subsidy program.

They pointed out that the segment moved 4.95 million tons of freight and more than 1,133 million freight tonne-kilometers, and the subsidy requirement exceeded 7 billion forints. This means that the performance increased by more than half a million tons of freight and 160 million freight tonne-kilometers compared to the previous year. 100 percent of the 6.4 billion forints of funds provided in the VEKT support program were used, and by the end of the year, an additional 758 million forints of funds were required. Three more railway companies joined the program, which also indicates the attractiveness and expansion of the sector.

It was highlighted that, based on preliminary data, further performance growth can be experienced in 2025 compared to the time-proportional values of 2024, while 11 companies are already actively participating in the program.

Based on last year’s experience, this year too, the depletion of funds is expected before the end of the year, therefore, according to the association, it is essential that the state support for the VEKT program is maintained and the funding framework is expanded in a flexible manner, following real performance. The program contributes to reducing road freight traffic, reducing harmful emissions, and strengthening the role of railways in the domestic logistics system, it was highlighted.

They also touched on the reduction of Hungary’s ecological footprint and noted that with the help of the VEKT subsidy program, customers chose the environmentally friendly railway instead of the road when transporting almost 5 million tons of goods. This means that on average 340 thousand fewer trucks loaded Hungarian roads, thus 80 thousand tons less carbon dioxide was released into the Earth’s atmosphere – reads the HUNGRAIL statement.