THE European Investment Bank (EIB) and the city of Bucharest have signed a €266m loan agreement to upgrade the city’s light rail network. The signing ceremony in the Romanian capital was attended by EIB vice-president, Ioannis Tsakiris, and Bucharest’s mayor, Ciprian Ciucu.
The funding will be used to improve existing infrastructure, including the upgrade of around 50km of track, the modernisation of depot facilities and introduction of 63 new LRVs. The aim is to increase service speed, reliability, passenger comfort and accessibility on a network that serves around 500,000 people a day.
No details of the tendering schedule for the new LRVs have yet been released, but modernisation work and delivery of the new fleet is scheduled for completion by 2030. Between 2022 and 2024 the city introduced 100 Imperio LRVs built by a consortium of domestic supplier Astra Vagoane Călători and Chinese manufacturer CRRC Qingdao Sifang.
“Bucharest needs major investment in its light rail network, as it is over 50 years old and is no longer efficient, so this funding is extremely important for the city,” says Ciucu.
For detailed information on light rail fleet orders across Europe, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
