EUROPE: The European Commission said there was a ‘very strong emphasis’ on rail in the list of 140 transport projects which are to receive almost €2·2bn of Connecting Europe Facility grants announced on July 16.
A total of 55 rail infrastructure projects on the TEN-T core network are allocated €1·6bn, while nine interoperablity projects including ERTMS will revive a total of €49·8m.
The projects were selected via the October 2019 regular CEF Transport call for proposals, as well as the November 2019 CEF Transport Blending Facility call where EU support is to be combined with additional bank financing. The Innovation & Networks Executive Agency expects to sign the grant agreements with the project beneficiaries at the latest by January 2021.
‘The €2·2bn EU contribution to this crucial transport infrastructure will help kick-start the recovery, and we expect it to generate €5bn in investments’, said Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean.
‘The type of projects we invest in ranges from inland waterways transport to multimodal connections, alternative fuels to massive railway infrastructure. The Connecting Europe Facility is one of our key instruments in creating a crisis-proof and resilient transport system - vital now and in the long run.’
| Project | Type | Applicant country |
|---|---|---|
| Studies for a new double-track railway line between Salzburg and Neumarkt-Köstendorf | Studies | Austria |
| Planning of a new four-track railway line between Linz and Wels | Studies | Austria |
| Development of prototypes for the upgrade of vehicles with ETCS SRS2.3.0d on-board equipment to ETCS SRS 3.6.0 | Works | Belgium |
| Increasing performance on four freight sections on all core network corridors in Belgium | Works | Belgium |
| Increasing capacity by adding a thord and fourth track between Brugge and Gent | Works | Belgium |
| Railway connection between Burgas station and Burgas Airport (studies) | Studies | Bulgaria |
| Modernisation of traction substations in Vratsa and Pernik | Works | Bulgaria |
| Modernisation of the Dragoman – Serbian border line | Studies | Bulgaria |
| Doubling the Plovdiv - Svilengrad - Turkish border line | Studies | Bulgaria |
| Modernizstion of the Mezdra - Medkovets line | Studies | Bulgaria |
| Prototype deployment of onboard ETCS | Works | Czech Republic |
| Junction Prerov - second construction part | Works | Czech Republic |
| Modernisation of Pardubice junction | Works | Czech Republic |
| ETCS on-board deployment for interoperable freight traffic along the Scan-Med Corridor | Works | Germany |
| ERTMS prototyping for TRAXX MS2 and TRAXX AC3 locomotives | Works | Germany |
| Dutch border - Emmerich - Oberhausen new line | Works | Germany |
| Final planning of Hamburg urban line S4 | Studies | Germany |
| On-board deployment of ETCS Baseline 3 for Siemens locomotives operating on the TEN-T | Works | Germany |
| i2030 Rail Expansion in Berlin and Brandenburg: Western Gateway | Studies | Germany |
| Preliminary design for the Heidenau - Czech border new line on the Dresden - Praha route | Studies | Germany |
| Upgrade and new build of Stuttgart - Wendlingen line | Works | Germany |
| Final planning of the Regionaltangente West in Frankfurt/Main | Studies | Germany |
| Improvement of the cross-border line between the Czech Republic and Germany near Bad Schandau | Works | Germany |
| Supplementary and updated studies for upgrading the Danish Fehmarnbelt tunnel railway access line | Studies | Denmark |
| New Storstrøm Bridge | Works | Denmark |
| Upgrading and duplicating the railway line from Alexandroupoli to Pithio | Studies | Greece |
| New single line connecting Thessaloniki - Amphipolis - Nea Karvali | Studies | Greece |
| Installation of 1435 mm gauge track on the Mediterranean Corridor between Valencia, Sagunto and Castellón | Works | Spain |
| High-speed line Sines/Lisboa - Madrid: study of the Madrid Atocha station area (Phase 3) | Studies | Spain |
| Northern Access Line to the Brenner Base Tunnel between Munich (DE) & Radfeld (AT) | Studies | Austra and Germany |
| Brenner Base Tunnel | Studies | Austria and Italy |
| Rail Baltica development in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Part V) | Works | Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania |
| Rail Baltica development in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Part IV) | Studies | Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania |
| Development of the line between Helsinki and Riihimäki | Studies | Finland |
| KOKOHA upgrade of Kouvola - Kotka - Hamina railway | Studies | Finland |
| Development of the Helsinki - Turku railway | Studies | Finland |
| Development of the Botnia corridor | Studies | Finland |
| Espoo Rail Line: development of the Helsinki - Turku railway | Studies | Finland |
| Development of 12 ERTMS Baseline 3 prototypes for the improvement of interoperability on nine TEN-T Corridors | Works | France |
| Capacity improvement of the Metz - Luxembourg cross-border line | Studies | France |
| Works at Mulhouse to improve the North Sea – Mediterranean Corridor | Works | France |
| Grand Paris Express tunnels to connect Orly airport and the Massy-Palaiseau high speed line to Versailles | Works | France |
| Improvements to increase capacity in the Lyon area | Studies | France |
| Studies into phasing construction of the French accesses to the Lyon - Torino tunnel | Studies | France |
| Upgrading and developing of the Paris Southern bypass | Studies | France |
| Modernisation of the northern underpass at Toulouse Matabiau station | Works | France |
| Establishment of monitoring systems for rail safety, security & technical controls | Works | Hungary |
| Elimination of rail bottlenecks and improving cross-border interoperability between Budapest and Hegyeshalom (- Vienna) | Works | Hungary |
| DART Expansion – Kildare Line (engineering design) | Studies | Ireland |
| On Board ERTMS B3 equipment for Lombardia Fleet | Works | Italy |
| MXP-NLINE to link Terminal 2 of Milano Malpensa airportwith railway lines towards Gallarate and Switzerland | Works | Italy |
| Milan East Gate Hub | Studies | Italy |
| Rail to Air: enhancing the rail connection between the Torino urban node, airport and related hinterland | Works | Italy |
| EuroCap-Rail: new alignment to provide a direct link between Luxembourg and Bettembourg | Works | Luxembourg |
| Connection of third cross-border track Zevenaar - Emmerich - Oberhausen | Studies | Netherlands |
| Prototype retrofitting of ERTMS (B3) on-board equipment for Liège - Maastricht - Aachen services | Works | Netherlands |
| Study for the removal of the railway bottleneck to the Maasvlakte II terminals in the Port of Rotterdam | Studies | Netherlands |
| Rotterdam and EU hinterland connection: Theemsweg railway section superstructure | Works | Netherlands |
| Upgrading Amersfoort East side yard | Works | Netherlands |
| Analysis of the integrated transport development possibilities in Warszawa | Studies | Poland |
| Upgrade of the E75 line Elk - Trakiszki (-border) | Studies | Poland |
| Upgrade of the E75 line, Czyzew - Bialystok section (phase II) | Works | Poland |
| Modernisation of the Coslariu - Cluj-Napoca line (feasibility study) | Studies | Romania |
| Modernisation of the București - Craiova line (feasibility study) | Studies | Romania |
| Modernisation of the Apahida - Suceava line (feasibility study) | Studies | Romania |
| Modernisation of the București Nord area (feasibility study) | Studies | Romania |
| Modernisation of the București Nord - Henri Coandă International Airport line | Works | Romania |
| Study for 40 km double track ine between Gävle and Kringlan | Studies | Sweden |
| Removal of a major bottleneck between Flackarp and Arlöv on the Southern Main Line | Works | Sweden |
| ERTMS onboard prototyping 2020-23 | Works | Sweden |
| The West Link - Kvarnberget railway tunnel | Works | Sweden |
| Preparation of project documentation for an upgrade of Ljubljana station | Studies | Slovenia |
| Modernisation of the Czech border – Cadca line | Works | Slovakia |
Rail Baltica
The Rail Baltica 1 435 mm gauge corridor received the largest financial allocation, with 55% from the total available funding of the 2019 CEF Cohesion Transport call. There is a €184m grant for implementation work until 2024 on the sections in the Baltic States, and €422m for sections in Poland. Including previously signed grant agreement contracts, the three Baltic states have now secured around €1·2bn from the EU and national funds for the Rail Baltica programme.
‘Rail Baltica appreciates the additional financing made available for the technical design, planning and construction works’, said Agnis Driksna, Chair of the Management Board of project promoter RB Rail. ‘As a result this will provide the necessary funding for all key global project activities in this area, as well as provide maturity for the construction phase of Rail Baltica. The project is prepared to scale-up construction activities in all three countries and will apply for additional funding in the next CEF transport calls.’
