JOC Staff | Feb 19, 2013 11:22AM EST
The European Union has allocated 3.5 million euros (about US$4.7 million) from the TEN-T Programme to help further the development of a rail freight corridor at Meteren-Boxtel in the Netherlands.
The project is part of TEN-T Rail Freight Corridor I, which aims to remove bottlenecks and upgrade the existing rail infrastructure to help increase freight capacity. It will co-finance several studies required before the construction work can begin. The studies will aim to evaluate the preferred alignment for the route and will also include an environmental impact assessment.
The project is set to be completed by December 2014.
The EU will also contribute more than $668,245 from the TEN-T Programme to assess the possibilities of using a public-private partnership scheme to finance the development of the Vilamalla/El Far d’Emporda intermodal logistics terminal in Spain.
The series of studies will evaluate which PPP model is best suited for the project, confirm the viability of realizing such a development via a PPP scheme and explore the use of EU financial instruments in the proposed PPP models. The grant will also facilitate preparation of the tender.
The project is set to be completed by March 2014.
Additionally, the EU will fund $1.1 million from the TEN-T Programme to assess the existing and future needs of transport infrastructure on the upper Rhine river.
The study will target fluvial ports and their connections to the rail and road networks. It will analyze three main aspects related to inland waterway transport on the upper Rhine river in France, Germany and Switzerland, including the sector’s current and future needs and the accessibility and connectivity of ports located in the area. It will also propose a multimodal transport strategy, including the related governance structure and investment planning.
The project is set to be complete by the end of 2014.
