European funds for Bucharest’s infrastructure

european funds for bucharest’s infrastructure The European Commission will partially finance the construction of the metro line to connect Bucharest’s centre to the Henri Coanda Airport in Otopeni

A harsh critic of the Bucharest government for what she sees as their inability to access non-repayable European funds for infrastructure, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu on Wednesday made the kind of announcement that she would like to have the opportunity to make more often.

She announced that the European executive green-lighted the allotment of 517 million euros for the construction of a segment of the metro line to connect Bucharest's central area to the Henri Coanda Airport in Otopeni.

The airport is the largest in Romania and has been included by the authorities in the Large Infrastructure Operational Programme. The European co-financing will go into the construction of 6 kilometers, out of the total 14 connecting Gara de Nord railway station to Henri Coanda Airport.

The project also provides for the construction of six new underground metro stations between the 1 Mai area in the city centre and a commercial centre on the route to the airport, as well as the purchase of 12 new trains.

"This investment by the Cohesion Fund will improve the daily lives of 1.8 million citizens who will benefit better transport connections to several destinations in Bucharest", Corina Cretu has explained. "I hope", she went on to say, "that by 2023, which is the deadline for the project's implementation, Romanian authorities will find solutions to complete constructions works on metro line 6, so that the new segment to the Otopeni International Airport becomes operational."

Minister for European Funds, Rovana Plumb, has hailed the announcement, saying that she expects Metrorex, the national company in charge with the metro's administration, to start working on this project of high importance, in order to improve transportation between the capital Bucharest and the Ilfov County. Construction works on the new metro line are due to start in the second half of this year. Why doesn't the European Commission finance the whole project?

According to the Pro Infrastructura non-governmental association that constantly criticizes Romanian authorities on how they handle the transportation sector, the reason would be that Bucharest has not provided credible information as to the possible flaws in the project. The European Commission has voiced concern, among other things, that the cost estimation is unrealistic, as it is below the average construction cost per kilometer in Romania, and criticizes the fact that the M6 metro line does not take into consideration the construction of the new terminal of the Henri Coanda Airport.

Other aspects that Bucharest has failed to clarify, according to Pro Infrastructure, concern an even heavier traffic on the already busy national road 1, and the exaggeratedly optimistic estimation of the duration of construction works, of only 4 and a half years.



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Publicat: 2019-02-14 13:59:00
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