Brussels, 02/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 28 September in Rennes, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a first €100 million instalment of a €300 million loan to finance the Brittany-Loire Region high-speed rail project.
This signature brings the EIB's total contribution to financing the Brittany-Loire Region high-speed rail project to €853 million. The EIB's contribution initially took the form of a €553 million 25-year loan to a consortium led by Eiffage. The latter is responsible for building and ensuring the availability of the line under a public-private partnership (PPP) contract. This EIB operation will now be backed up by direct loans to the Brittany Region, the lead regional authority financier of the Brittany-Loire Region high-speed rail project and the broader “Brittany High Speed” project.
This operation will help to finance the construction of a 182 km high-speed rail line between Le Mans and Rennes along with 32 km of connecting lines. The Brittany-Loire Region high-speed rail project represents the extension to Rennes and Nantes of the Paris-Le Mans high-speed train line opened in 1989. Its aim is to substantially improve train services to Brittany and the Loire region, making them more accessible. Journey times from Paris to Rennes will be cut by 37 minutes.
This project is scheduled for delivery in September 2016, with the commercial opening of the new high-speed line planned for May 2017. (OL/trans/fl)