JOC Staff | Feb 13, 2013 2:05PM EST
The European Union will co-finance four projects aimed at preparing for the implementation of four rail freight corridors across Europe, focusing on EU regulatory requirements.
The projects benefit from a TEN-T program contribution of 5.7 million euros (about US$7.7 million).
The first project will receive $1.7 million to prepare the managerial structures needed to establish Rail Freight Corridor 2, a transnational rail freight axis starting in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and then, via Belgium, Luxembourg and France, reaching Basel, Switzerland, and Lyon, France.
The second project will receive more than $2.2 million to cover the preparatory studies needed for Rail Freight Corridor 8, which runs from ports in Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Antwerp to Kaunas, Lithuania, crossing northern Europe on an east-west path.
The third project will receive more than $2.3 million to establish Rail Freight Corridor 6, which runs along the south of Europe from Almeria and Madrid in Spain to Zahony in Hungary, crossing France, Italy and Slovenia.
A fourth project will receive more than $1.3 million for the implementation plan of Rail Freight Corridor 4, which runs from Lisbon, Sines and Leixoes in Portugal to Algeciras, Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastian and Irun in Spain, as well as into Paris and northern and eastern France.
All projects are set to be completed by December 2014.
The EU will also co-finance almost $4.0 million from the TEN-T program to complete infrastructure design studies to improve rail connections to the Port of Hamburg in Germany. The project will complete all planning documentation for the improvement of the Suderelbe multimodal crossing, including adaptation of major traffic routes. It is scheduled for completion in August 2014.
