Brussels, 05/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Antonio Tajani, EU Transport Commissioner, signed 11 financing decisions on Friday 5 December 2008 for rail projects that are part of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) for 2007-2013. The funding is being awarded for: 1) the building of an access road to a tunnel on the Lyons-Turin rail connection (€4.7 million); 2) work on the cross-border section of the Lyons-Turin rail connection (€671.8m); 3) design work for the connection between Ronchi dei Legionari Sud and Trieste (€24m); 5) design and research on the cross-border section of the connection between Trieste and Divaèa (€50.7m); 6) preparatory studies for the line between Budapest, Keleti/Miskolc and Nyíregyháza (€8m); 7) research and work on the southern access to the Brenner Tunnel between Fortezza and Verona (€58.8m); 8) work on the connection between Erfurt and Halle/Gröbers (€57m); and 9) work on the Kundl/Radfeld - Baumkirchen line (€58.3m); 10) work on the base tunnel under the Brenner (€592.6m); 10) research concerning the Brenner base tunnel (€193. 3m); and 11) the Genoa rail hub and research into upgrading the Genoa-Voltri-Genoa Brignole interchange (€5m).
Signing the decisions, Tajani said he was proud to announce that the 11 decisions had finally been taken, adding that they would make a huge contribution to the work on the Brenner Tunnel and the Mount Cenis Tunnel between Turin and Lyons, and would allow preparations to start for the rail link between Trieste and Divaèa. The deals were signed in Verona, Italy, on the fringes of a conference on the trans-European transport network. (A.By.transl.fl)