Brussels, 01/08/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 July, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a €200 funding contract for the construction of a two-track high speed rail line 40 km long on the Brenner route (priority project No1 of the Trans-European Transport Network, TEN-T, Berlin-Palermo) between Kundl-Radfeld and Baumkirchen, in the Lower Inn Valley in Tyrol (Austria). The new loan brings EIB participation in the project to €1 billion.
The construction of this rail section will allow a bottleneck on the TEN No1 corridor to be eliminated and will increase rail traffic on the current Brenner Pass itinerary. Furthermore, the project will have the effect of reducing operating and maintenance costs, will save journey time, improve safety and reduce the impact of transport on the environment. “The upgrading of the Lower Inn Valley section will substantially increase capacity on Europe's most important North-South rail corridor and enable the separation of passenger and goods traffic. It will cut journey times for users and reduce environmental and noise pollution for the local population”, the EIB states. (O.L./transl.jl).