The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing EUR 300 million to finance the Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid high-speed train line. EIB Vice-President Carlos da Silva Costa, and the CEO of ADIF[1],Antonio González Marín, signed the loan contract today in a ceremony conducted by the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez.
At the signing ceremony, the EIB Vice-President stressed that “this the EIB’s fourth contribution to high-speed train lines in Spain, after the Madrid-Seville, Madrid-Barcelona and Córdoba-Málaga lines. It is also the first loan signed in Spain with the exceptionally long maturity of up to 50 years”.
“I would like to point out – he continued – that in 2006 Spain was the biggest recipient of EIB loans, which totalled EUR 7 650 million. So far in 2007 Spanish firms have signed loans worth over EUR 4 200 million, making the country one of the EIB’s foremost borrowers this year. All this could not have been achieved without close cooperation between the staff of the Bank and the different Spanish entities involved.”
The new high-speed line will be 196 km long and cut journey times from Madrid to Segovia and Valladolid to 28 and 54 minutes respectively. Scheduled for opening at the end of 2007, the line will seek to attract road users, with benefits in terms of traveller safety, time savings and the environment. The project includes a nearly 30 km rail tunnel under the Guadarrama range, one of the longest in Europe. Valladolid will be provided with a temporary surface station until the opening of the new Campo Grande underground station in 2010.
The project will form part of the trans-European high-speed line from Madrid to Vitoria and the French cities of Dax, Bordeaux and Tours, as well as the planned high-speed line to Porto (Portugal). As this is a priority EU initiative, the Spanish sections of the line will receive EU subsidies from the Cohesion, European Regional Development and Trans-European Networks Funds. The EU contributions to the project, including the EIB loan, will cover around 55% of the total investment cost.
[1] “Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias” (ADIF) is the State entity responsible for building and managing rail infrastructure in Spain
Background:
The EIB is the European Union’s bank, whose purpose is to finance projects furthering EU policies. Trans-European transport networks (TENs) are an EU priority in view of their role in fostering economic and social integration, the free movement of people and goods and the development of more disadvantaged parts of the European Union.