Paris (France) (AFP) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a financing agreement with the Société des Grands Projets (SGP) on Wednesday, adding 3 billion euros to enable the construction of the western portion of line 15 of the future automatic metro which should encircle Paris by 2031.
Published on: 02/09/2026 - 17:49
The Grand Paris Express "is the largest infrastructure project in Europe", recalled on Wednesday the chairman of the SGP board of directors who is leading its implementation, Jean-François Monteils, during the signing of the agreement at the Nanterre-La Folie station (Hauts-de-Seine).
It is made up of a total of five new metro lines (14, 15, 16, 17 and 18) and 68 new stations over some 200 kilometers - including 75 km for the only underground railway loop of line 15. Its budget was reassessed to 36.1 billion euros in October 2021, compared to 35.6 billion planned in February 2018, recalled Frédéric Brédillot, member of the SGP board of directors.
From the new envelope made available by the EIB, a first tranche of 500 million euros of loan was drawn on July 30. This new aid brings the total support granted by the European Union's financing institution to 6.5 billion.
“Our objective is to help succeed in the decarbonization of transport and improve the daily lives of Europeans,” underlined Ambroise Fayolle, vice-president of the EIB, who insists on the financing of projects making it possible to achieve the climate objectives set by the 2015 Paris agreement.
“During our examination of the files, we of course integrate economic profitability, but (...) also an internal carbon price to verify its environmental profitability,” specified Mr. Fayolle.
“We are the European climate bank, we are targeting operations over 40 years, because we want to be a catalyst for climate objectives,” René Laurent Ballaguy, head of the EIB office in Paris, told AFP.
The western section of line 15 extends over 22.4 kilometers. It must serve 14 towns in Hauts de Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis, with 11 stations, between Pont-de-Sèvres and the town hall of Aubervilliers, for some 600,000 daily travelers. Its commissioning, like that of the eastern section (Aubervillers-Champigny town hall), is planned for 2031.
The commissioning of the southern section over some 35 kilometers between Pont-de-Sèvres and Noisy-Champs (16 stations), initially planned for 2018, has been postponed several times and is now expected at the end of 2027.
© 2026 AFP
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