Watchdog fines Spanish rail freight companies €75.6m

SPAIN’S Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has fined rail freight carriers belonging to Renfe and Deutsch Bahn groups almost €80m for anti-competition practises.

CNMC said that the companies treated each other as privileged clients and providers while Renfe commercially discriminated against other freight companies.

“Through these alliances, these groups, which theoretically should be competing with each other, could maintain almost unchanged the status quo that existed before the liberalisation of the cargo train sector in Spain,” the CNMC said.

Companies affiliated to both groups account for more than 80% of all rail freight traffic in Spain.

Two companies of the Renfe Group (Renfe Operadora and Renfe Mercancías)  were fined €65m while Transfesa, Transfesa Rail, PIF, Hispanauto, Semat, DHIB, DB ML and DB SR Deutschland of the Deutsche Bahn Group we fined €10m.

The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) is responsible for ‘preserving, guaranteeing and promoting the proper functioning, transparency and existence of effective competition in all markets and productive sectors for the benefit of consumers and users.’