BUCHAREST (Romania), October 17 (SeeNews) – The European Commission (EC) said on Monday it is providing 226.6 million euro ($249 million) to Romania for railroad rehabilitation works between the capital Bucharest and the Black Sea port city of Constanta.
The rehabilitation works were initially financed by the Romanian state with 475 million euro, the Commission said in a press release.
The repairs will be conducted on two sections covering 80 kilometres - from Bucharest North to Bucharest Baneasa and from Fetesti to Constanta.
"This decision is in line with the EC's assumed policy of co-financing retrospective projects, aiming to increase EU funds absorption rate in Romania. This means that the EC takes over a part of the expenditures that Romania has made for the rehabilitation of the railway between its capital city and Constanta," Corina Cretu, European Commissioner for regional policy, said.
The funds come through the transport operational programme for the 2007-2013 period. Currently, the absorption rate of funding provided under that programme stands at over 81%.
Following the completion of repair works, approximately 3.7 million passengers are estimated to use the train annually by 2030 to travel between Bucharest and Constanta. Rail freight transport on this route is estimated to reach up to 21 million tonnes annually.
Currently, the Bucharest - Constanta section can support speed of up to 160 km per hour for passenger trains and 120 km per hour for freight trains.
($=0.9096 euro)