Franse OV-bedrijven krijgen lening van 387 miljoen euro voor aanschaf nieuwe trams (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Investeringsbank (EIB) i, gepubliceerd op maandag 7 november 2011.

PRESS RELEASE

 
      

7 November 2011

The EIB, STIF, RATP and various entities under the BPCE umbrella - Caisse d'Epargne Île-de-France, Caisse d'Epargne Rhône Alpes, Crédit Foncier de France, Natixis, Ingepar - today presented a EUR 378m leasing agreement to finance new trams for the T3, T5, T6, T7 and T8 lines.

At the presentation STIF and RATP unveiled the interior and exterior designs of Île-de-France’s new trams.

Philippe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Jean-Paul Huchon, Chairman of the Board of STIF, Pierre Mongin, CEO of RATP, and Olivier Klein, Retail Banking and Insurance Director of BPCE, welcomed this agreement which will enable STIF and RATP to offer the inhabitants of Île-de-France an even more attractive public transport service.

This innovative financing arrangement totalling EUR 378m with a term of 33 years is the result of fruitful collaboration between STIF and RATP, the EIB and various BPCE entities. It will take the form of two structured lease agreements to finance 107 trams over 33 years.

A long-term loan of EUR 300m will be granted to Crédit Foncier de France from EIB resources. The remainder of the financing will be provided by Crédit Foncier de France, Caisse d’Epargne Île-de-France and Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes.

STIF established the framework for the lease negotiations and is financing this equipment which it will then own in accordance with the ORTF law.

Delivery of the trams began in November (15 for the T5 line) and will continue until 2014. This delivery will include 25 trams for the T3, 18 for the T6, 19 for the T7 and 20 for the T8, i.e. 107 new vehicles.

At the presentation of this financial agreement, the designs of the vehicles for the new tramway lines were unveiled. Each line was treated individually, giving it its own identity based on the areas that it passes through and harmoniously complementing the region’s public transport livery.

There are four tram lines currently operating in Île-de-France. This 41.4 km network has 71 stations and carries 370 000 passengers each day. With the future extension of the T1, T2 and T3 lines and the entry into service of the T5, T6, T7 and T8 lines, the 105.3 km network will carry 830 500 passengers and serve 187 stations.

This deliberate policy to extend the tramway network illustrates STIF’s desire to develop suburb-to-suburb travel links in order to provide services tailored to the needs of the inhabitants of Île-de-France.

The lines that will receive these new trams

  • - 
    The 14.5 km-long extension of the T3, scheduled to open to the public at the end of 2012, will link Porte d’Ivry to Porte de la Chapelle in two sections, with a connection for Porte de Vincennes. It will have 26 new stations.
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    As from next year, the T5 will link Saint-Denis (93) to Garges-Lès-Gonesse (95) on a 6.6 km route serving 16 stations, via Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Montmagny and Sarcelles. This will be Île-de-France’s first line with trams on tyres.
  • - 
    Scheduled for 2014, the T6 will link Châtillon-Montrouge (92) - the terminus of line 13 of the Paris underground - and Viroflay (78), passing through 21 stations over 14 km.
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    At the end of 2013, the 11.2 km-long T7 with 18 stations will link Villejuif (94) and Athis-Mons (91). The line will be extended at a later date between Athis-Mons and Juvisy-sur-Orge.
  • - 
    In 2014 in Seine-Saint-Denis, the 8.5 km-long, 17-station T8 will link Saint-Denis, Epinay-sur-Seine and Villetaneuse. A 3 km extension to the future Rosa Parks station on RER suburban line E is under examination.

Following a call for tenders, two manufacturers were selected to supply these trams. Alstom Transport SA’s Citadis 302 (200 passengers, of whom 54 seated) will as from next year be gradually introduced on the T3, T7 and T8 lines. The Lohr Group’s Translohr STE 3 (125 passengers) has been selected for the T5 tramway and its Translohr STE 6 for the T6 tramway (252 passengers).

Four tramways currently in operation in Île-de-France

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    T1 from Noisy-le-Sec to Saint-Denis. Currently under construction, its extension to Asnières-Gennevilliers Les Courtilles will be commissioned in 2012.
  • - 
    T2 from Porte de Versailles to La Défense. Currently under construction, its extension to Pont de Bezons will be commissioned in 2012.
  • - 
    T3 from Pont du Garigliano to Porte d’Ivry.
  • - 
    T4 from Bondy to Aulnay-sous-Bois.

Note to editors:

About the EIB

The bank of the European Union

With EUR 4.9bn granted in France in 2010, the EIB continues to act as a catalyst in the French economy, especially in the key sectors of climate action and sustainable public transport, innovation and R&D. Its remit is to provide mainly long-term loans for viable public or private sector investment projects that meet the Union’s six priority policies: economic and social cohesion; protection of the natural and urban environments; research and innovation; support for SMEs; sustainable transport and development of the trans-European transport networks; and promotion of a secure, competitive and sustainable energy supply. In 2010 alone, the Bank granted EUR 72bn in support of local authorities and enterprises, i.e. 460 projects financed.

France’s leading investor in sustainable public transport

The EIB is France’s leading investor in the sustainable public transport sector. It makes its full range of skills and technical and financial expertise, accompanied by attractive lending conditions, available to local authorities to enable them to develop modes of public transport as an alternative to private cars. At the European level, in 2010 the EIB committed EUR 8.6bn in support of public transport, which makes a total of EUR 23.7bn since 2000. In 2010 in France, EUR 540m was earmarked for this sector, which makes a total of EUR 4bn since 2000. The EIB has provided funding for 24 tramways throughout France and assisted eight French regions with their rail network upgrading projects. High-speed lines are also part of the EIB’s core business in France. In particular, in 2011 the Bank signed a EUR 1.2bn loan for LGV Sud Europe.

About STIF, Île-de-France’s public transport authority

STIF, which represents local authorities (Île-de-France Region, Municipality of Paris and seven other departments in the region), is the transport authority of Île-de-France. As such, it devises, plans, organises, coordinates and finances all public transport in Île-de-France. Spurred by serving the public and the general interest, STIF decides how to improve travel in Île-de-France and entrusts implementation to transport operators.

Adapting transport to new lifestyles and regional developments is therefore one of the permanent goals of STIF, the key sustainable mobility player in Île-de-France.

About RATP

RATP manages in Île-de-France one of the world’s largest multi-modal networks. Its bus, underground, RER and tramway networks carry more than 10m passengers daily. With the extensions and the development of new tramway lines, the Île-de-France network will eventually become Europe’s third-largest in terms of the number of passengers carried.

With the backing of the Île-de-France Region and STIF, in 2011 RATP pursued an ambitious capital expenditure policy with EUR 1.5bn invested in support of improvements to its passenger service (automation of line 1, extension of line 8, commissioning of new double-decker trains on RER suburban line A, refurbishment of stations, etc.).

About the BPCE Group

The BPCE Group, France’s second-largest banking group, includes two autonomous and complementary retail banking networks, the 20 Banque Populaire banks and the 17 Caisse d’Epargne banks. In the field of real estate financing, it can also count on Crédit Foncier de France. It is a key player in the fields of corporate banking, asset management and financial services through Natixis. The BPCE Group has more than 36m customers and a wide presence in France with 8 000 branches, 117 000 employees and over 8m member-shareholders.

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