The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's long-term financing institution, has granted a EUR 300 million loan to Gestor de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (GIF) for financing the Madrid-Barcelona-Figueres high-speed rail line (AVE). This is the first tranche of the EUR 2 500 million loan - the biggest in the EIB's history - approved by the Bank's Board of Directors at its meeting in Seville in September 2002.
The project forms part of the trans-European rail network, the Madrid-Barcelona-Perpignan-Montpellier axis being one of the 14 priority TENs identified by the Essen European Council.
Specifically, the project consists of the design, land acquisition, construction and commissioning of a new 744 km high-speed rail line (855 km including looplines and connections) linking Madrid with Barcelona and on to the French border.
The infrastructure will be 14 metres wide in the upper part of the sub-ballast layer, making possible a dual-track line of international gauge (1 435 mm) with a fully enclosed wheelbase of 4.50 metres and design characteristics allowing a speed of 300 km/h (gradient of 25 thousandths and radius curves of 7 250 m), apart from at certain specific points.
The project also comprises the construction and upgrading of stations in Madrid, Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona (8 stations including the port and airport), Girona and Figueres.
Overall, the project will contribute to Spain's economic development by linking its two main cities with a high-speed rail line and furthering the integration of the Iberian Peninsula into the rest of Europe.
The EIB was created in 1958 by the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community, with the remit of contributing to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States through the long-term financing of capital investment furthering the Union's objectives.
In 2002, the EIB granted loans totalling approximately EUR 39 600 million, of which 5 426 million went towards projects in Spain.