The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Adif Alta Velocidad (Adif AV) have signed a EUR 430 million loan for the construction of Basque Y high-speed rail, connecting Vitoria/Gasteiz, Bilbao and San Sebastián.
The financing is the final EIB tranche of a EUR 1.03 billion loan approved in 2017 and increased to EUR 1.43 billion in 2021. The ¨Y vasca¨ has been financed by the EIB since the outset through various loans totalling EUR 2.83 billion, supporting the rollout and expansion of this strategic connectivity infrastructure for the Iberian Peninsula.
The EIB loan will also cover other elements of the ¨Y vasca¨ infrastructure including the connection to the Burgos-Vitoria-/Gasteiz high-speed line, the new Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao access points and stations in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián.
The high-speed line, which is under construction, covers a total of 182 km and comprises the Vitoria/Gasteiz-Bilbao and Bergara-Donostia/San Sebastián branches, together with the connection of the two branches via the Nudo Arrasate/Mondragón-Elorrio-Bergara, known as the Nudo de Bergara. Also, part of the new infrastructure is the Astigarraga-Donostia/San Sebastián-Irún section, the access points to Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz, and the connection of this new high-speed line with the Burgos-Vitoria-Gasteiz high-speed line.
Adif AV is building the infrastructure between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao. The platform that supports the tracks of thirteen sections have already been built, with six still under construction, including those corresponding to the Nudo section.
Designed for both passenger and freight traffic on double high-speed track with standard gauge, the ¨Y vasca¨ is part of the Atlantic Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and is key to connecting the Spanish and Portuguese rail networks with their French counterpart and on to the rest of the European Union.
Basque Y high-speed rail will also help to improve the Basque Country’s rail connections with the centre of the peninsula via the Madrid-Valladolid-Vitoria/Gasteiz high-speed line and with the Mediterranean via the Navarra Corridor.
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