The EU Commission has selected 134 transport projects that will receive funding of seven billion euros in total from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). No less than 80 per cent will go to rail projects, which is at least 5,5 billion euros. The EU highlights Rail Baltica, the Lyon-Turin railway and the Fehmarnbelt tunnel as major beneficiaries.
There are 11 rail projects with importance for freight traffic that will get a grant of over 100 million euros. Rail Baltica will get two grants of more than 1 billion euros in total for engineering, construction, planning and land acquisition. The remaining major investments go to:
- The construction of the Turin – Lyon line, including the Mont-Cenis base tunnel (700 million euros)
- The modernisation of the Česká Třebová railway junction, a major rail node in Czechia (290 million euros)
- Preparations and works on the southern rail ring of Budapest, especially the Kelenfold – Ferencvaros section (290 million euros)
- The modernisation of the Bialystok – Osowiec railway in Poland, which is part of Rail Baltica (approximately 223 million euros)
- The German Karlsruhe – Basel railway capacity upgrade (approximately 180 million euros)
- The completion of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Germany and Denmark (approximately 160 million euros)
- An upgrade on the Skierniewice – Pilawa rail section in Poland (145 million euros)
- Germany – Poland rail connection upgrade between Angermünde and Szczecin (approximately 132 million euros)
- The Greek Thessaloniki – Promahonas railway electrification upgrade (approximately 112 million euros)
Largest Connecting Europe Facility call ever
The seven billion euro investment is the largest set of grants from the CEF yet, according to the Commission’s climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra. “This is the largest call under the current CEF Transport programme. The selected projects will help transform Europe’s transport network, making cleaner transport modes more efficient and attractive for passengers and freight while enhancing safety across the TEN-T”, he said.
“I am especially pleased that several projects supporting the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes have been funded. These new corridors are of key importance to help integrate Ukraine and Moldova into the EU.” In total, over 50 million euros will go to projects aimed at improving rail logistics on Ukrainian borders with Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
In total, the Connecting Europe Facility has 25,8 to spend on TEN-T projects between 2021 and 2027.