photo: FS Italiane press materials/EIB signed an agreement for train acquisition with FS Italiane
Gelsomina Vigliotti, the Vice-president of EIB, and Luigi Ferraris, the CEO of FS Italiane, signed a joint agreement that will get utilized by Trenitalia to buy hi-speed trains for Spanish and Italian railway lines.
This business venture will allow Trenitalia to modernize its current fleet for the Italian railroads and simultaneously boost the determination and expansions of the Italian group in the high-speed market beyond the Italian region.
The EU bank approved Ferrovia Dello Stato Italiane's bond subscriptions of up to €550 million, of which a €350 million tranche got signed on 16 December.
The funds will get used for the acquisition of 34 high-speed trains, 20 of which will get leased to Ilsa, its Spanish subsidiary. The trains will get used on the Madrid-Sevilla-Malaga, Madrid-Barcelona, and Madrid-Valencia-Alicante high-speed lines in Spain. The estimated worth of the new trains is €1.2 billion.
These new trains, operated by Trenitalia, will get used to offering transport services across Spain and Italy.
The other fourteen will get operated on the Turin-Trieste and Milan-Naples-Salerno-Reggio Calabria lines.
“Strengthening the single market by stepping up efforts and investments to complete the trans-European transport network and support the transformation of mobility towards a low-carbon future is one of the key objectives of the EIB. Thanks to this operation, FS will be able to modernize its existing fleets in Italy and expand its business in Spain, increasing competitiveness in the high-speed and sustainable transport sector,” EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti said.
“I am very pleased with this further green bond issue aimed at strengthening the fleet of high-speed trains in Italy and Europe. It is a source of pride for the FS Group to be the first to receive financing from the EIB, which is signing this tranche, has underscored our commitment to increasing sustainable mobility,” the CEO of FS said.
TThis green bond is the EIB's first, and that is why it is the initial operation under the Green Bond Purchase Programme, which has got approved by the EIB group by the end of May 2021 and is following best practices and the EU tax policies. FS Italiane also got a confirmation from Sustainalytics, certifying its capability to follow environmental regulations and plans to protect the climate. FS has got confirmed as a virtuous green issuer on the European market.