The French road haulage federations (FNTR, TLF and OTRE) are up in arms over SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou's suggestion that trucks, especially foreign ones, could contribute to financing the rail network. In a joint press release, the federations reject this proposal out of hand.
"Asphyxiated by €4 billion in annual taxation", the professionals denounce a measure that is unfair, legally questionable and incompatible with the challenges of transition. "The proposal to target only foreign trucks is legally unworkable. European law requires equal treatment for all hauliers: in practice, it is French companies that will pay," they point out.
Weakening the road means compromising the railways and putting the brakes on greening," they declare. The development of rail freight will not work against road transport, but with it. The only rail sector that is growing today is combined transport, which relies precisely on a link between rail and road."
