The European Union has approved a grant of €88 million to the Slovak passenger railway company ŽSSK to purchase rolling stock, including wagons for inter-regional and commuter transportation. The money will be used through the European Regional Development Fund to modify the control systems of ten existing electric locomotives series and to buy 32 new train sets and two three-system locomotives.
Spokesman and advisor to Transport Minister Martin Krajčovič told the SITA newswire on Tuesday, July 20, that this is the fourth major project from the Operational Programme Transport for the period 2007-2013 to be co-financed by EU funds.
The new trains are designed for passenger transport mainly in the vicinities of Trnava, Trenčín, Nitra, Žilina, Košice and Humenné. A total of ten double-decker, dual-system electric trains should be deployed in the Žilina and Košice areas. In western Slovakia near Trnava, Trenčín, and Nové Zámky, ten double-decker train sets with adapted electric locomotives and two three-system locomotives will be deployed. The areas around Humenné and in the Upper Nitra valley will eventually be served by a total of twelve new trains for inter-regional transport.
The Operational Programme Transport, through which the projects are financed, was designed to develop transport infrastructure in Slovakia. Other projects worth over €50 million that have already been approved by Brussels include modernisation of the Žilina-Krásno nad Kysucou railway, construction of the D1 highway section between Sverepec and Vrtižer, and construction of the R1 dual carriageway between Žarnovica and Šášovské Podhradie.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
