THE Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has provided a €300m loan to the Turkish government to support the construction of the €640m 67km Ispartakule - Çerkezköy section of the Halkali - Kapikule line from Istanbul to the Bulgarian border.

This follows a similar €150m loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) that was made last month.

Construction of the Halkali - Kapikule line is co-financed by the European Union (EU) through a €275m grant from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) funds, and forms part of the EU Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

The Halkali - Kapikule line is also part of the transport corridor for the Europe - Caucasus - Asia (TRACECA) which aims to strengthen economic relations, trade and transport in the Black Sea basin, South Caucasus and Central Asia regions. Both passenger and freight trains will operate on the line.

“AIIB’s investment is considered 100% climate mitigation financing and falls under the bank’s transport sector strategy,” says Ms Supee Teravaninthorn, AIIB director general, infrastructure investment department (region 2).

For data on railway projects across Asia, subscribe to IRJ Pro.