Luxembourg, 23/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - On 22 October, the European Investment Bank reaffirmed its commitment to the TGV-Est Europe high-speed rail project by granting EUR 71 million and EUR 24 million loans to the départements of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin respectively. This financing follows on from an initial EUR 300 million loan to Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) in April 2001 for the first phase of construction of the new TGV-Est Europe high-speed line and three loans totalling EUR 210 million advanced in late 2001 to the Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine regions. The two contracts signed on Monday take EIB funding for TGV Est Europe to EUR 605 million. They come under the umbrella of a partnership with French local authorities aimed at enabling them to co-finance the project in accordance with the terms of the agreement signed in October 2000 between the French Government, RFF, SNCF and the local authorities concerned. At a later stage, the loans may be supplemented by further EIB finance up to the total amount of commitments for this project, which was recently increased by the Bank's Board of Directors to EUR 830 million, little over a quarter of the cost of the works. TGV-Est Europe is one of the priority Trans-European Transport Networks identified by the Essen European Council. The first phase of works covers construction of the new 300-km line from Vaires-sur-Marnes (Ile-de-France) to Baudrecourt, serving Metz and Nancy as well as linking the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to the French high-speed rail network. TGV-Est Europe has a pan-European dimension in that it will connect Paris and the whole of eastern France not only to Germany but also to Central Europe.