Ontwikkeling van metrostelsel in Toulouse gesteund met goedkope EU-lening van 600 mln euro (en)

Jean-Luc Moudenc, President of the Syndicat Mixte de Transport en Commun de l'agglomération toulousaine (Tisséo-SMTC) and mayor of Toulouse, and Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), today (22 October 2004) signed the protocol summarising the financing arrangements for the extension of the Toulouse metro (extended line A and line B), in the presence of Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister and President of the communauté d'agglomération du Grand Toulouse.

This financing operation also involves five major partner banks of Tisséo-SMTC: Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Caisse d'Epargne, Dexia Crédit Local, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole S.A and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The extension of the Greater Toulouse metro forms part of the Urban Transport Plan, which lays down the guidelines for transport policy up until 2015. The aim is to enhance the appeal of Toulouse on a European scale, attaining the twofold objective of sustainability and quality through the development of key transport arteries and a lighter, exclusive-lane network in a multimodal approach.

Tisséo-SMTC has been entrusted by its partners (Greater Toulouse, the Conseil général de la Haute-Garonne, Sicoval, SITPRT) with implementing this policy. The first metro line (the 9.6 km long East-West line A, which serves 15 stations) was built between 1990 and 1993. Its extension (2.6 km long, with three new stations) was recently completed. Construction of line B (15.8 km long, running from north to south, with 20 stations) is in progress and will be completed in February 2007. The VAL system has been adopted (automatic, driverless light metro). A total of 47 train sets, each with a capacity of 156 seats will be required. The capacity of the system is estimated at 6 000 passengers per hour in each direction. Virtually the whole of these two lines will be underground.

As part of its remit to support projects that help to protect the environment and improve the quality of life, the EIB has already been involved in financing the construction of the first metro line (line A), which has been a great success. On 24 October 2000, four years ago almost to the day, the EIB's Board of Directors responded favourably to the application from SMTC by granting it a further advance, totalling EUR 600 million, for the extension of the network. As planned, this loan was drawn down in stages: two contracts reserving funds totalling EUR 300m were signed directly with SMTC in 2001 and 2003. Five others were signed in 2003 and 2004 with SMTC's partner financial institutions following European tendering procedures.

Background:

The EIB sees its lending in favour of exclusive lane public transport as part of its priority action to promote sustainable urban development, with the emphasis on reducing pollution and improving the quality of life in urban areas while at the same time encouraging economic expansion in towns.

In this connection, the EIB has, over the past five years, lent more than EUR 11 billion throughout the European Union for the development of urban transport. It has been involved in financing metros and tramways in the UK Midlands and cities such as Athens, Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels, Berlin, Valencia, Lisbon, Madrid, Munich, Düsseldorf, London, Manchester, Sheffield, Dublin, Budapest and Prague. In France, the EIB has provided funding of nearly EUR 2.2 billion over ten years for urban transport projects, in particular exclusive lane transport systems in Lyon, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Orléans, Rennes, St Etienne, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Valenciennes. (For further information, see www.eib.org)

Press contacts:
At the EIB: Sabine Parisse, Tel. (+35) 43 79 31 38; gsm (+352) 021 459159; e-mail parisse@eib.org
At Tisséo-SMTC: Guy Claverie, Tel. (+33) 5 67 77 80 80; e-mail guy.claverie@smtcat.fr