Investment Plan for Europe: largest financing amount to date for trains in Austria

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  ÖBB-PV purchases new Cityjet trains

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  ÖBB-PV deal single largest EFSI transaction in Europe so far

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  First EUR 100 million tranche signed

The European Investment Bank (EIB i) is providing ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG (ÖBB-PV) with a EUR 500 million loan to purchase new rolling stock. A first EUR 100 million tranche has already been signed with ÖBB-PV. This loan from the EU bank will be secured by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). EFSI is the central plank of the Investment Plan for Europe (IPE), in which the EIB and the European Commission are strategic partners, which is designed to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s economy. ÖBB-PV AG will use the loan to purchase new Cityjet train sets for local and regional services.

European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc i said: "This project not only supports investment and job creation in Europe, it also enables the transition to low emission mobility. These new trains will contribute to the attractiveness of the rail sector in Austria. All in all, this is good news for Austrian commuters and for the environment."

EIB Vice-President Andrew McDowell, who is responsible for the EU bank’s activities in Austria, said in Vienna: “Our deal with ÖBB-PV is the single largest transaction under EFSI in Europe so far. For us, the EU bank, supporting sustainable and innovative transport solutions is one of our top financing priorities. The European Union means to bring practical, tangible improvement to its citizen’s quality of life; we at the EU Bank are at the forefront of using economic means to make these improvements a reality.” He went on to say that “High quality efficient services and modern reliable trains are all important to persuading travellers to switch to rail. We are therefore particularly pleased to have ÖBB-PV as a substantial new partner in realising these objectives.”

“We are delighted by the excellent cooperation with the European Investment Bank. This loan will finance the acquisition of our new Cityjet train sets - an investment that stands for sustainable state-of-the-art rail transport in Austria and represents an important pledge to our customers, which we also want to attract to rail in the future”, said ÖBB-PV board member Evelyn Palla.

About the EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

About the Investment Plan for Europe

The Investment Plan for Europe, the Juncker Plan, is one of the EU´s top priorities to boost investments and to create jobs and growth by making smarter use of existing and new financial resources. The EIB Group is playing a vital role in this investment drive. Through guarantees from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) i, the EIB and the EIF are able to take on a higher share of project risk, encouraging private finance providers to participate in the projects. In addition, EFSI is accompanied by a new advisory service, the European Investment Advisory Hub, which enables public and private project operators to structure their investment projects more professionally. The investment offensive also aims to make the regulatory environment in the EU more conducive to investment, especially in the digital, energy and capital market sectors. On 13 September, the European Parliament and Member States came to an agreement in principle on the extension and strengthening of EFSI. This agreement extends EFSI's duration and increases its financial capacity.