Eight European Rail Bodies Urge Brussels to Redirect ETS Revenue to Rail
Eight European rail and combined-transport associations issued a joint statement to the European Union in Brussels on 14 July 2026, asking that revenue from the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) -- the bloc's carbon-pricing scheme for industry and power generation -- be redirected to fund rail decarbonisation rather than exempting rail from the mechanism.
The signatories are CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies), ERFA (European Rail Freight Association), EIM (European Rail Infrastructure Managers), UNIFE (European Rail Supply Industry Association), UIP (International Union of Wagon Keepers), UIRR (International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport), AERRL (Association of European Rail Rolling Stock Lessors) and ALLRAIL (Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants). Citing CER data, the statement puts the ETS cost currently borne by electrified rail transport across the EU27 at around euro571m a year, at a carbon price of euro79.36 per tonne of CO2 -- a cost passed through electricity prices rather than charged to rail operators directly, since power generation has been covered by the ETS since the scheme's launch. Should the carbon price reach a projected euro110 per tonne by 2027, the associations estimate that annual cost could exceed euro790m.
The statement is explicit that rail is "not asking to be exempted from the ETS," but instead wants a fair share of what the sector pays returned to support its own capacity. The associations set out three asks: dedicating EU-level ETS revenue to rail, having EU member states earmark their national ETS revenue for rail projects, and turning what is now discretionary good practice into a clearer obligation covering the ETS, ETS2, the Innovation Fund, the Modernisation Fund, the Social Climate Fund and any new ETS-based investment instruments. They want rail projects with measurable carbon savings prioritised within the ETS Innovation Fund specifically, with a modal-shift drive additionally backed by the ETS Investment Booster and the ETS Industrial Decarbonisation Bank.
The eight associations published their statement three days before the European Commission unveiled its comprehensive ETS revision proposal on 17 July 2026, aimed at aligning the carbon market with the EU's 2040 climate target. The joint statement carries no individually named spokesperson.