Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to allocate 950 million euros to finance Atlantic Corridor

News - 2015.10.28

The State Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, Julio Gómez-Pomar, signed various agreements on Wednesday in Bordeaux under which the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) will allocate 950 million euros to finance the Atlantic Corridor. From this amount, 500 million euro will be allocated to the Basque Y, specifically to the railway connection Bergara-San Sebastián-Bayonne.

"The start-up of this infrastructure will also lead to greater integration with Europe, better connectivity between the cities of Atlantic Europe and with the rest of Europe", he said.

In this regard, the State secretary pointed out that the establishment of fast connection and high frequency services between the main hubs will constitute the key to the development of the economy of the corridor.

BasqueY

Julio Gómez-Pomar specifically referred to the Basque Y, highlighting that this is an infrastructure in which the Spanish State will invest 5.3 billion euros. "This ministerial department's commitment to the Basque Y is firm and the appropriate steps are being taken for the high-speed railway to reach the Basque Country by 2019", he underlined.

At present, the branch being implemented by Adif already has contracted the pending stretches of track-bed. Moreover, major progress has been made on the branch in Guipuzcoa and all the works on the platform are finalised or being implemented until Astigarraga. The projects to assemble the line, connect energy and to develop the safety installations for the whole of the Y Vasca are also being drafted.

He also pointed out that on 16 October, the Council of Ministers authorised the public tender for the works on the base of the line assembly in Vitoria.

In terms of access to cities, the State secretary indicated that all of the inter-institutional committees to develop connections in Bilbao, Vitoria and San Sebastián have been commenced.

Stretches covering Portuguese border

In his speech, Julio Gómez-Pomar underlined that the ministry also wants to make use of the actions being undertaken to cross the Portuguese border as soon as possible, both in the stretches from Salamanca to Aveiro and from Mérida to Évora.

"The excellent relations with Portugal will lead to both the line gauge and the electrification and signalling on both sides of the border to move forward in a synchronised manner", he highlighted.

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