EIB agrees funding for new East Anglia trains

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide US$76 million (£60 million) for the purchase of new trains that will improve passenger services in East Anglia on key London, intercity, airport and local services in the UK. The 378 new train carriages will be used by franchise operator Abellio and replace outdated existing electric and diesel trains currently used on the routes. The EIB loan is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) under the Investment Plan for Europe, and
October 6, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The 4270 European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide US$76 million (£60 million) for the purchase of new trains that will improve passenger services in East Anglia on key London, intercity, airport and local services in the UK.

The 378 new train carriages will be used by franchise operator Abellio and replace outdated existing electric and diesel trains currently used on the routes. The EIB loan is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) under the Investment Plan for Europe, and this is the first EFSI transport loan in the United Kingdom.

The 28 year European Investment Bank loan will finance purchase of new rolling stock by Rock Rail East Anglia PLC for use by Abellio East Anglia Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch national rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

Funding of these new trains was led by Rock Rail and SL Capital with additional co-investment equity being provided by GLIL, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and London Pensions Fund Authority infrastructure investment joint venture.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Gearing up for IntelliDrive cooperative traffic management
    February 1, 2012
    Beginning in the first quarter of 2010 it became evident that the IntelliDrivesm programme direction had been reestablished, by the USDOT's ITS Joint Program Office (JPO), after being adrift for a few years. The programme was now moving toward a deployment future and with a much broader stakeholder involvement than it had exhibited previously. By today not only is it evident that the programme was reestablished with a renewed emphasis on deployment, it is also apparent that it is moving along at a faster pa
    Read More
  • Tags or communication based toll payment systems?
    January 20, 2012
    Midland Expressway Ltd's Tom Fanning discusses deployment of Near Field Communicationbased payment on the M6 Toll facility The M6 Toll's introduction from early next year of Near Field Communication (NFC) is a pragmatic response to the relative scarcity of tolled facilities and the concomitant low levels of tag take-up in the UK, according to the road's operator, Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL). Nevertheless, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC)-based tags operating at 5.8GHz are still a key part of the
    Read More
  • London's new £19bn transit line opens
    May 24, 2022
    Elizabeth Line speeds up east-west travel in the UK capital and its surrounding areas
    Read More
  • Huawei is accelerating intelligence
    April 9, 2025
    At MWC Barcelona 2025, Huawei released seven new smart transportation solutions and set out its philosophy for the use of AI to support safety and efficiency gains
    Read More

Highlighted Content