The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a EUR 75 million loan for Tbilisi metro modernisation. EUR 65 million will be provided by the EBRD and EUR 10 million by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) established within the framework of the UNFCCC.
The loan will support Tbilisi metro modernisation, city’s main form of public transport, and the procurement of new rolling stock.
By these funds, extended to Georgia and on-lent to the city of Tbilisi, the city’s transport company will purchase 40 new metro cars and will modernise a depot and a tunnel. The 10 four-car metro trains will replace the existing, outdated rolling stock. EUR 60 million is the total cost of the project, of which EBRD will provide a EUR 50 million funding.
“The new financial resources allocated by our partners will be used for one of the most important priorities – municipal transport, including the rehabilitation of the Tbilisi subway, as well as the purchase of a new type of modern carriages, necessary steps to ensure the safe movement of our citizens,” said Ivane Matchavariani, the Minister of Finance of Georgia.
The metro train procurement project is part of Green Cities 2 (GrCF2) and a follow-on investment to the Tbilisi Green City Action Plan which includes measures to improve areas such as water, energy and energy efficiency, local industry development, and transport. The plan was developed by the City of Tbilisi with the support of the EBRD and financial support provided by the Czech Republic which in total provides EUR 22.1 million as donor funds supporting EBRD operations.
On transport sector, the plan envisages to develop the SUMP, the modernise the bus network and fleet, as well as the metro system, to implement the traffic management system, with the aim of improving public transport system and to reduce the private cars, particularly in the city center.
The metro infrastructure modernisation and the procurement of new rolling stock will improve the reliability, safety and efficiency of public transport and provide commuters with a comfortable and environmentally friendly means of transport.
Tbilisi metro system is formed by a 27.3 km network and 23 stations. Two years ago, it was announced the plans for metro expansion by 8 stations and for the modernisation of the existing stations. The new proposed line would use the existing Tbilisi bypass railway ring for which the construction began in 2010 but was suspended due to engineering failures. Under the plans, line will use the existing railway infrastructure and a new metro station will be built from Samgori to Lilo.
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