The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan of US$398 million for the construction of a tunnel under the Scheldt River to link container terminals in the Port of Antwerp with Europe's main railway network, according to Europe Information Service.
The project takes the form of a public private partnership (PPP) between Infrabel, Belgium's railway infrastructure company, and Locorail, a special purpose company owned by a consortium of European construction groups.
The project is the EIB's first rail PPP operation in Belgium and the country's largest ever PPP.
The tunnel will improve access to and from Antwerp, one of Europe's busiest ports, to the continent's Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), a priority lending area for the EIB.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.07 billion.
The project takes the form of a public private partnership (PPP) between Infrabel, Belgium's railway infrastructure company, and Locorail, a special purpose company owned by a consortium of European construction groups.
The project is the EIB's first rail PPP operation in Belgium and the country's largest ever PPP.
The tunnel will improve access to and from Antwerp, one of Europe's busiest ports, to the continent's Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), a priority lending area for the EIB.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.07 billion.