A quarter million euros: VPI Servicegesellschaft VERS disburses CEF subsidy funds to consortium members

The member companies of the VERS consortium deliver results: In 2020, they further upgraded their fleets with noise-minimising brake technology. The second tranche of CEF subsidy funds is now available: The VPI service company has now transferred roughly a quarter million euros to the eight members. As consortium leader, VERS delivered the corresponding figures for the annual Action Status Report to the competent EU authority CINEA on time. “With our consortium model, we have succeeded in enabling access to subsidy funds for cost-intensive upgrades even for small and medium-sized wagon keepers,” says Karl-Heinz Fehr, VPI legal advisor.

The subsidy funds were primarily used by consortium members for upgrading wagons that travel on the German rail network. This step has now been concluded. Future efforts will focus on the portions of the fleet that currently do not operate in Germany, which will be able to move freely – and quietly – across borders again after completion of the upgrade. VERS is able to disburse another 1.8 million euros in CEF subsidies for these upgrade investments until 2023.

The programme for supporting the conversion of loud wagons to quiet braking technology was established in 2018 under the auspices of the EU funding instrument CEF (Connecting Europe Facility). Individually, smaller wagon keepers would not have been successful as applicants: The CEF programme sets a minimum of 2,000 wagons for funding applications. The companies participating in the consortium were able to pool together roughly 8,000 wagons. The consortium members include: ARETZ GmbH, CFL Cargo SA, ERR European Rail Rent GmbH, Mosolf Automotiv Railway GmbH, On Rail GmbH, ORV GmbH, Tyczka Gase GmbH and VTG Rail Europe GmbH.