Bratislava – Slovakia has achieved an extraordinary success in the field of transport. In the current call of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), it has managed to secure more than 141 million euros from European grants for the modernization of railway infrastructure. This is one of the historically highest allocations for Slovakia within this mechanism, TASR reports, citing the statement of the Minister of Transport of the Slovak Republic, Jozef Ráž.
Slovak projects have succeeded in strong competition among 27 EU member states and have obtained nearly 8% of the total cohesion envelope of the CEF. The support is directed towards strategic railway projects that will significantly contribute to increasing safety, speed, interoperability, and environmental sustainability of railway transport.
“We have obtained almost eight percent of the entire cohesion allocation, which is proof that Slovakia is not only competing for European resources but is also successfully acquiring them and transforming them into quality transport projects. It is great news that the Railways of the Slovak Republic will be able to continue the smooth modernization of another section from Vydrník to Spišská Nová Ves thanks to the funds from the CEF. We have secured nearly one hundred million euros for this project,” stated the Minister of Transport of the Slovak Republic, Jozef Ráž.
Key projects that will receive support: Modernization of the railway line Vydrník – Spišská Nová Ves (the line speed will increase to 160 km/h, travel time will be shortened, the line will be fully electrified); project documentation for the modernization of another key section Košice – Čierna nad Tisou up to the border with Ukraine; reconstruction of the railway station Čierna nad Tisou; modernization of switches in the Barca area, which will increase safety and smoothness of transport in the Košice railway hub; modernization of the traction substation in Ruskovo; modernization of 23 freight locomotives of ZSSK CARGO – installation of ERTMS/ETCS; installation of ETCS on 29 passenger railway vehicles of ZSSK.
The European Commission explicitly appreciated the improvement in the quality of our projects.
“The European Commission explicitly appreciated the improvement in the quality of our projects. This is the result of systematic preparation, professional approach, and intensive cooperation with Brussels,” stated the State Secretary of the Ministest of Transport, Denisa Žiláková, in this context. She added that good news also includes other awarded intentions of the ministest, such as the modernization of the railway line Paludza – Liptovský Hrádok or the renovation of the transshipment terminal Dobrá. These received excellent scores in the evaluation and will have a real chance to succeed and obtain support from European funds in the next round after the issuance of building permits. According to her, the ministest will finance these projects in combination from the Slovakia Program, and some of them will soon launch construction.
The Ministest of Transport emphasized that this step continues to fulfill its strategy – to create safe, rapid, and ecological transport by utilizing the maximum potential of European funds. (July 7)
Leave a Reply