FGV SUSTAINABLE RAIL INFRA & ROLLING STOCK FL

The public company FGV (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana, operates the rail-based networks in Valencia through a Public Service Contract (Contrato Programa) with the Promoter, Comunidad Valenciana. The operation concerns FGV´s multi-year investment programme for public urban and suburban rail infrastructure and rolling stock in Comunidad Valenciana, encompassing safety, digitalisation, upgrade and new capacity investments. The project will be co-financed by the European regional development fund (ERDF) and European regional development fund (ERDF) resources.

The operation will provide financial support for the implementation of the actions foreseen in the regional strategy for sustainable mobility for the period 2018-2029 and in Valencia, Castellón de la Plana and Alicante-Elche's cities sustainable urban mobility plans as included in the Promoter's multi-year investment programme. The compliance of the Promoter with the EU Regulation 1370/2007 will be verified during project appraisal. The provisions relating to rolling stock ownership after expiry of the current Public Service Contract will be reviewed during appraisal. At this stage, the exact location of schemes is still unknown and will be evaluated during appraisal. The potential schemes to be financed under this framework loan will contribute to adapting and modernizing the existing public transport network infrastructure and acquiring new rail rolling stock, as well as improving the coverage, quality, safety and accessibility of the public transport services, thus favouring the use of public transport and promoting intermodality and modal transfer away from private cars.

The operation will provide financial support for the implementation of the actions foreseen in the regional strategy for sustainable mobility for the period 2018-2030, the regional Climate Strategy and in the sustainable urban mobility plans of the cities of Valencia and Alicante-Elche. These plans are going to be extensively supported by the European Commission through the ERDF for 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) which EIB financing will be complementing. 

The potential schemes to be financed under this FL will contribute to upgrading, modernizing and expanding the existing public transport infrastructure and purchasing new rolling stock as well as improving the coverage, quality, security and accessibility of the public transport services, thus favouring the use of public transport and promoting intermodality and modal transfer away from private cars.

As a result, the investments to be financed should contribute to the strategic objectives related to sustainable urban and regional transport and climate change mitigation. The schemes are expected to address market failures through: (a) supporting the shift of traffic to more sustainable transport modes, reducing the related negative road transport externalities, (b) generating positive externalities through improved accessibility to services and employment by providing a more efficient and affordable alternative for urban mobility needs and (c) improving the efficiency of the

transport network and optimizing the use of public goods thus bringing benefits in terms of time and cost savings and less traffic congestion.

The favourable conditions of EIB financing will help to improve the suboptimal investment situation in sustainable railway in Comunidad Valenciana. Financial costs will be optimised and spanned over a longer time thanks to the long availability, tenor and grace period of EIB loan, aligned to the implementation and economic life of the project. The main outcomes of EIB financing will be the increase of the average life of debt of Comunidad Valenciana and the catalytic effect for the absorption of EU funds, a key driver for the post-pandemic economic recovery.

The infrastructure works (metro and tramway extensions) fall under annex II of the Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU. Works to improve the level of service of the bus lines may also fall under Annex II depending of their scope. Compliance with the EIA directive will be checked at allocation stage for those components. Manufacturing of rolling stock does not fall within the scope of the Directive 2014/52/EU amending the EIA Directive 2011/92/EU. Therefore, no EIA will be required for this type of schemes. For each sub-operation , where and if applicable, the requirements of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive 2001/42/EC, the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU, the Birds Directive 2009/147/EC and the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC will be assessed at allocation stage. Finally, in case of fleet renewals, the EIB will assess promoters' arrangements for the scrapping of dismissed rolling stock.

The promoter has to ensure that contracts for implementation of the project have been and will be tendered according with EU procurement legislation, 2014/25/EU or 2014/24/EU, where applicable, as well as Directive 92/13/EEC or Directive 89/665/EEC, as interpreted by the EU Court of Justice, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal (OJEU), as and where required. At publication date, the EIB has not received any information on the suppliers/contractors for the proposed operation. The Promoter is subject to the EU Public Procurement Directives and therefore the requested information will be available in the public domain through contract award notices to be published in the OJEU or national bulletins, as applicable.