Ayuso captures 200 million euros from the EU to reform the metro network
The Community of Madrid, led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has obtained a new soft credit line from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the modernization of the metro network. The public bank of the European Union will finance with 200 million euros different reform actions in the underground, immersed in a transformation process. The amount, approved in May, will be divided into several loans until 2025. The first, company sources detail, will be 60 million euros.
The EIB is a usual channel of financing for the regional Executive and other public administrations. It is a key source due to the facilities and stability it provides, more accessible than that of commercial banks. In this case, according to the documentation of the European organization, it will contribute to “rehabilitate and modernize the infrastructure of the existing metro network and improve rolling stock, as well as to improve the quality, reliability, safety and accessibility of services”. These works are part of the Multiannual Investment Plan 2022-2025.
The 200 million euros to be received represent almost 50% of the total project, budgeted at 520 million euros. Sources from Metro de Madrid explain that the money will be allocated to all the actions planned in the network, whose works have already begun in some cases, such as the improvement of lines 1 and 9. The investment benefits stations, trains, tracks, signaling and control systems and ticket sales. “One of the keys will be accessibility and increasing the capacity of the lines, renewing the traction centers and modifying the electrification systems,” they point out from the company.
This economic injection, points out the EIB, aims to promote the use of public transport in large cities. “The potential plans that will be financed with this framework loan will contribute to the use of public transport, promoting intermodality and the modal transfer away from the private car”, indicates the bank in the justification for the loan, approved on May 3.
The Government of the Community of Madrid has received different loans from the EIB in recent months. As reported by El Confidencial, in December it signed two loans of 500 and 250 million euros for the construction and equipment of the future La Paz Hospital, one of the most important projects in the region, and the rehabilitation of several primary care centers.. It is about the expansion of the Cantoblanco Hospital and the reform of Carlos III, peripherals of the first. Also improvement works in three health clinics, two in the capital and another in Colmenar Viejo.