Brussels, 22/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) decided last week to increase the level of its loan in support of the Pendolino rail project of PKP Intercity, which currently stands at €224 million, to €342 million. The project financed consists of acquiring 20 new high-speed trains and the construction of a related maintenance depot in Warsaw. By increasing its funding, which will allow the project's financing plan to be concluded, the EIB hopes to ensure the plan's rapid implementation.
The new high-speed passenger trains will mainly serve Gdynia, Warsaw and Krakow-Katowice. These sections are part of a project that falls within the trans-European transport network linking Gdansk, Warsaw, Brno-Bratislava and Vienna. Other high-speed connections will also be operated to Gliwice via Katowice, to Wroc³aw via Opole and to Rzeszow via Tarnow. New trains will be able to start running on these lines in 2015. The maintenance depot is to be built on an existing rail site, close to Warszawa Grochow, and will allow servicing and maintenance work to be carried out on the new trains.
The trains co-funded by the EIB, which use state-of-the-art technology, will replace the old stock (which has been in service for more than 20 years on average). (OL/transl.fl)