More than €180 million of EU regional funds to modernize Slovakia's transport system
The European Commission has approved two investments for a total of more than 180 million euro from the EU's Cohesion Fund and the EU's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to revitalize the road and urban transport system in Slovakia.
The first project concerns the construction of the 10km long expressway section between Pstruša and Kriván. This road is part of the future dual carriageway expressway R2 from Trenčin via Zvolen to Košice, which belongs to the international European route E 571 in the West-East direction. Road users and inhabitants of the local territory, including the municipalities Pstrusa and Viglas, will be the main beneficiaries of the project, which should be finalised in December 2015.
The second project consists of the purchase of 120 new trolleybuses in order to modernise the public transport in Bratislava. The trolleybuses include new passenger information systems and climate control. The project aims to achieve a modal shift from private cars to public transport, thus improving the urban environment. The 650 000 daily users of public transports in Bratislava (residents and tourists) will now benefit from more comfortable travel conditions.
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu i said “Thanks to these investments, Slovakia's transport system will be significantly improved. I want to underline how important transport infrastructures are to a country. Convenient road connections, comfortable and environment-friendly public transport systems; these infrastructures have a great impact on the attractiveness of a territory for businesses and tourism, on the competitiveness of the local and national economy and last but not least, on the quality of the people's everyday life."
The first investment comes through the "Convergence, Operational Program Transport" programme and it is financed via the priority axis "Road infrastructure (expressways and 1st class roads)". The EU, through the ERDF, will finance almost 132 million euro out of a total investment of 155 million euro.
The second investment comes through the "Transport" programme and it is financed via the priority axis "Infrastructure and rolling stock of integrated transport systems". The EU, through the Cohesion Fund, will finance more than 49 million euro out of a total investment of almost 61 million euro.
Background:
These are "major projects", of which the total investment (VAT included) is above 50 million euro and thus subject to a specific decision by the European Commission whereas other types of projects are approved at national or regional levels.
For the first project, the proposed section of expressway R2 will contribute to the development of connection of expressways between Trencin through Ziar nad Hronom, Zvolen towards the city of Kosice. The daily traffic volume on the expressway is expected to reach 13 790 vehicles per day in 2016. R2 Pstruša - Kriváň will be built in full profile as four-lane expressway of category R 24.5/100 with central dividing strip (width arrangement of 24.5 m and design speed of 100 km/h). Relocations, adjustments and reconstructions of other roads and roads themselves are designed in accordance with applicable technical regulations and standards.
Regarding the second major project, new trolleybuses will replace old vehicles on a one-to-one basis and will be operated on existing lines. The 15 new trolleybuses with additional diesel engine with electric generator (APU) will also be partially operated on particular bus lines with extended routing or as a replacement for cancelled bus lines.
The co-financing decision for these projects falls under the programming period 2007-2013.
Slovakia has been allocated approximately 11.7 billion euro in cohesion policy funding for 2007-2013 and 14 billion euro (current prices) for 2014-2020.
More information:
EU cohesion policy in Slovakia 2007-2013
EU cohesion policy in Slovakia 2014-2020
EU cohesion policy 2014-2020
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