Brussels, 25/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 22 June, the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted a €500 million loan to Spanish rail company ADIF (Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) to finance the construction of the Y Vasca high-speed rail line. This is the first instalment of a total €1 billion EIB loan for the project.
The loan agreed on Friday will help to finance the construction of 140 km of rail line linking the Basque Country's three capital cities of Vitoria, Bilbao and San Sebastián. The project also includes the construction of junctions with the conventional line and access to the existing stations of Vitoria, Bilbao-Obando and San Sebastián-Atotxa. Seventy per cent of the line will be built in tunnels and the project is scheduled for completion in 2017.
The EIB emphasises that the project will improve the quality of rail connections between Madrid and the Basque Country and between Spain and France. The line is designed to encourage a switch from road and other forms of transport by offering the benefits of improved comfort and safety, shorter journey times and especially a positive environmental impact in terms of reduced air pollution, emissions and energy consumption. The project is a priority trans-European transport network (TEN) that will connect the Iberian Peninsula to the rest of Europe, and as such it will be supported by EU funding. (OL/transl.fl)