Commuter train services in the Southern Swedish region of Skåne will become more frequent, more comfortable and more accessible thanks to a project part-financed by the European Investment Bank.
Under an agreement signed in Luxembourg, the EIB will provide a €140m loan to Region Skåne, a regional public body, for the purchase of 49 passenger trains.
The trains will both replace existing, older equipment and increase capacity on the network.
Skåne has 33 municipalities with a combined population of 1.2 million. The public operator Skånetrafiken – part of Region Skåne – has seen ridership increase substantially in recent years, due to major investments in rail and bus services, but also due to easy connections to neighbouring Denmark by means of the Öresund bridge.
With its new equipment, Skånetrafiken expects to further raise the attractiveness of rail transport, bringing environmental benefits from an expected reduction in road traffic growth.
“The EIB is delighted to sign this agreement and help further modernise public transport in Skåne, with its excellent prospects not least due to deeper integration with the Copenhagen area,” said Wilhelm Molterer, EIB Vice President responsible for Sweden, at the signing ceremony.
“Region Skåne is very pleased with the agreement which is of great importance for the Region in its efforts to continue developing public transport,” said Sven Carlsson, Financial Director of Region Skåne.
