The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a £500 million loan to finance the future fleet of Crossrail trains.
Six hundred carriages are being procured to operate on the new Crossrail route from 2018 at a cost of around £1 billion.
Bombardier, Hitachi and CAF are currently in the running for the contract, which is expected to be awarded in spring 2014 sometime, after Siemens withdrew earlier in the process.
Crossrail has said each of the new publicly-funded trains will be 200 metres in length and have a capacity of 1,500 passengers.
Delivery and testing is scheduled to begin in 2017.
Finance contracts were signed in London today (December 13) by Steve Allen, Transport for London’s managing director finance, and Jonathan Taylor, EIB vice president.
In a statement, Taylor said: “We are pleased to provide significant support for the latest step in Crossrail’s development, by backing new trains and maintenance facilities. This follows a billion pound loan for the tunnels provided five years ago.”
Once complete, the £15 billion Crossrail network will connect 37 stations between Maidenhead in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
