National Council committee welcomes increase in funding for the railroads
Published: Tuesday, Aug 27th 2024, 17:20
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The Federal Council plans to spend CHF 16.4 billion on rail infrastructure between 2025 and 2028. The responsible National Council committee welcomes this plan - and has rejected proposals to increase or reduce the funds.
The funds will not only be used to maintain the infrastructure, but also to finance the operation and maintenance of the railroad infrastructure. The National Council's Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-N) approved the planned payment framework, as announced by the parliamentary services on Tuesday. The funds are to be increased by around two billion francs compared to the current period.
A minority of the committee will request an increase of CHF 500 million in the National Council, as was also reported. It would like to allocate these additional funds to increase the capacity of infrastructure operators to maintain the infrastructure over the next four years. In the committee, the idea was rejected by 12 votes to 9 with 3 abstentions.
By 17 votes to 8, the KVF-N also rejected a CHF 2.6 billion reduction in the payment framework, which would have eliminated the planned operating payments to infrastructure managers. The majority wanted to avoid jeopardizing the necessary maintenance measures with cuts, it was said.
The matter is expected to be dealt with by the National Council in the fall session.
©Keystone/SDA
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