Brussels, 02/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has recently committed to granting a loan of €300 million to Lille Métropole (northern France) to modernise and increase the capacity of its metro - the world's first driverless metro system.
The €610-million project aims to upgrade and improve the service on the metro by doubling the rolling stock on line 1, with the main aim of substantially increasing the capacity of the two light automated vehicle lines.
The EIB loan will finance the purchase of 27 new trains accommodating up to 420 passengers, the first of which will be brought into service in early 2016. The loan will also enable the modification of the platforms at 18 stations on line 1. The automatic driving system and related systems and equipment will be replaced, and the tunnel will be brought into greater compliance with fire safety regulations. At the same time, 26 trains currently in service will be coupled and the total capacity of line 1 will be doubled. Several trains currently operating on line 1 will be switched to line 2, the capacity of which will thus be increased by 30%. The project forms part of Lille Métropole's proactive policy of doubling public transport use by 2020 on a network capable of catering for 265 million journeys a year compared to 160 million today. (OL/transl.fl)