Italy opens application for this year’s subsidies, but still hasn’t paid last year’s

The Italian Ministry of Transport has opened applications for the 2024/25 Ferrobonus incentive, one of the main measures to support the country’s rail freight sector. On the other hand, companies are still waiting to get the money for the 2023/24 period, an industry source confirmed to RailFreight.com.

Italy allocated a little less than 20.5 million euros for the coming 12 months for the Ferrobonus. Thus, it seems that the Ministry did not accept the request, coming from industry players and associations, to push it up to 42 million euros per year.

The period covered by the 2024/25 Ferrobonus goes from 21 October 2024 to 20 October 2025. However, how long it will take for the government to actually pay out the subsidy remains unclear, as the money from last year’s fund still needs to be delivered. The issues with the Ferrobonus are not the only ones concerning rail freight incentives in Italy. Recently, 55 million euros were deducted from a subsidy aimed at compensating rolling stock investments.