- The financing consists of two loans: a €125 million loan to renew the high-speed fleet and a €100 million loan for the Renfe freight subsidiary.
- The EIB finances a significant portion of the railway company’s projects under its Sustainable Cities and Regions public policy goal.
- The financing agreement was endorsed during a meeting between the two institutions in Madrid.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will finance a new project to upgrade Renfe’s high-speed and freight trains through two loans totalling €225 million.
The first of the new operations includes the purchase of 26 power heads and the transformation of 156 coaches into 13 high-speed variable gauge series 107 trains. The total estimated cost of the project is €260 million, of which €125 million will be financed by the EIB.
The second loan of €100 million will go to projects run by the Renfe freight subsidiary. It will be used to purchase 24 electric locomotives and wagons for intermodal services, and to implement the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in some existing locomotives and noise reduction measures for 2 900 wagons. The total estimated cost of the project is €212 million.
The financing agreement, which was signed at the end of 2023, has now been endorsed in Madrid at a meeting between Renfe President Raúl Blanco and EIB Operations Director for Spain and Portugal Gilles Badot. For many years, the EIB has been financing a large portion of Renfe’s rolling stock purchases under its Sustainable Cities and Regions public policy goal.
The two entities work closely together on projects that promote long-term investments in sustainable transport and a modal shift towards rail transport, and that have benefits for the environment, helping to reduce road traffic congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Some of Renfe’s most significant EIB-financed investments include the purchase of high-speed trains from Talgo and Siemens (series 103, 112, 106 and 130), and commuter and medium-distance trains from CAF and Alstom, among others.
