On 17 July 2014, a EUR 128m finance contract was signed by Mr Julien Bargeton, Deputy Mayor of Paris with responsibility for finance, semi-public companies, public procurement and concessions, and Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), in the presence of Christophe Najdovski, Deputy Mayor of Paris with responsibility for transport, roads, travel and public space, to finance the extension of the T3 tramway line in Paris to provide users with an enhanced, efficient transport service accessible to all.
This EU loan serves to raise the necessary finance to extend the T3 line on which works are beginning. This project aims to substantially improve the service for the inner suburbs and the connections between Paris and neighbouring municipalities between Porte de la Chapelle and Porte d’Asnières, a densely-populated area where major employment centres are concentrated. This T3 line extension is 4.3 km long and has eight new stations.
This loan is vital to further expand the public transport network in Île-de-France, helping to meet strong demand from the region's inhabitants in terms of both capacity and time savings. The number of daily journeys on this new extension of the T3 line is estimated at nearly 88 000, which will increase total daily passenger numbers on the T3 line to over 190 000, so making it one of France's busiest lines.
"Less than a month after the Banking and Finance Conference on Energy Transition, co-hosted by Ségolène Royal and Michel Sapin, the EIB is financing this tramway line, which will be one of France's busiest. Supporting strategic transport infrastructure, particularly sustainable transport, is a priority for the EIB. We are therefore very proud to be a preferred partner of the Île-de-France tramway. This is how Europe works: first and foremost, concrete action that is resolutely geared to the future and aimed at improving the daily lives of citizens", declared EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive.
"Once again we are benefiting from the European Investment Bank's precious aid to help finance the T3 tramway in Paris. We are very appreciative of this solid, tangible support from Europe, which is building and investing in its future", remarked Julien Bargeton, Deputy Mayor of Paris with responsibility for finance.
This loan reflects the EIB’s concrete activity in France in support of public transport and urban development aimed at improving energy efficiency and people's quality of life. In total, since 2005 the EIB will have contributed over EUR 750m to the funding of the T3 tramway. As the leading investor in France in the sustainable infrastructure sector, the Bank is making all its skills and technical and financial expertise available to local authorities to help them develop alternative means of transport to private cars. This loan brings to 28 the number of tramways financed in France by the EIB.