Press Release: State aid: Commission approves German scheme supporting noise reduction in rail freight transport

The European Commission has found a €152 million German scheme to support the reduction of noise generated by rail freight traffic to be in line with EU state aid rules. The measure will reimburse up to 50% of the cost of equipping existing freight wagons used in Germany with less noisy composite brake blocks. This will allow reducing noise emissions to the standard foreseen for new wagons. The Commission found that the aid supports the coordination of transport in line with Article 93 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).