A five-year programme to raise capacity, modernise equipment and improve passenger comfort and environmental standards in Helsinki’s metro and express bus networks will be part-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Under an agreement signed today in Helsinki, the EIB will provide up to EUR 250 m to HKL, the Finnish capital’s urban transport company. The project will be carried out in the years 2011-2016. It comprises new metro trains, automating the metro signalling system, modernising the metro train depot, renovating metro stations and track and construction work and equipment along a 25 km bus rapid transit route.
“At the European Investment Bank, we are pleased to support this important project which will help reduce road transport emissions, thereby contributing to EU climate action objectives, and also further strengthen the integration and growth of the Helsinki region,” said Wilhelm Molterer, EIB Vice-President responsible for Finland, at the signing ceremony.
Earlier this year, the EIB signed a EUR 450 m loan to the project company Länsimetro, owned jointly by the City of Espoo and the City of Helsinki, for the contruction of a 14-km metro line from Central Helsinki to Espoo.
Background notes:
The mission of the EIB, the European Union’s bank, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States by financing sound investments. The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, whose shareholders are the 27 Member States. This loan is one of many supporting the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and its four priorities: sustainable environment; regional prosperity; increased accessibility and attractiveness; safety and security.
The City of Helsinki is Finland’s capital with a population of 573,000. The greater Helsinki region has 1.3 million inhabitants and generates approximately one-third of the country’s GDP.
HKL, Helsinki City Transport, operates the trams and the metro in Helsinki and is responsible for the construction and the maintenance of track, stations and depots.