Wednesday 9 October 2019

Europe’s railways and ports get greener with €117m of new funding

Europe’s railways and ports get greener with €117m of new funding

The EU has announced it is to invest more than €117 million (£105.1m) in 39 sustainable transport infrastructure projects across Europe.

Through the Connecting Europe Facility fund, the new finance aims to help build ‘missing connections’ between regions without strong transport links, while promoting more sustainable and low carbon forms of mobility.

The projects chosen to receive funding were selected through a competitive call for proposals and include eight schemes focused on upgrading the braking systems of nearly 75,000 trains - this is expected to reduce the overall energy consumption of freight trains and reduce the amount of noise they create.

The line between Austria and the Hungarian border, as well as the cross-border line between Bremen in Germany and Groeningen in the Netherlands, are also set to be fully electrified as part of the funding, which the EU says will slash their environmental impact.

The Oulu Port in Finland will use the money to build new rail tracks and extend existing infrastructure, as well as constructing a quay to accommodate longer trains, while the port of Civitavecchia, Italy will also receive a full upgrade.

EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: "We are delivering on our commitments to make transport more sustainable, safer and smarter.

"Today’s decision gives a further push to the transition to low emission mobility across Europe – starting with our railways and our ports."

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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