Le Havre Seine Métropole, the Banque des Territoires and the European Investment Bank have signed two loan agreements worth up to €245 million to fund a new tram route, Line C, in Le Havre, France.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) said its share of the financing could be up to €105 million, with the Banque des Territoires providing up to €140 million, according a release issued on Friday.
The agreements were signed in Le Havre by Edouard Philippe, president of the Le Havre Seine Métropole Urban Community, Olivier Sichel, chief executive of France’s Caisse des Dépôts, and Ambroise Fayolle, a vice-president of the EIB.
The Banque des Territoires said its loan would be drawn from regulated French savings accounts, including Livret A, LDDS and LEP.
Le Havre’s existing tram Lines A and B, which entered service in 2012, carry more than 50,000 passengers a day, and public transport usage across the Le Havre conurbation has risen by 30%.
Backing for a third tram line
Fayolle said the EIB had previously financed the first two tram lines and that the new project includes an extension of the tram network and urban regeneration in the Quartiers Sud area of the city.
Other public bodies are also contributing to the project, including the French state, the Normandy region and the Seine-Maritime department, Le Havre Seine Métropole said.
