A joint bid between the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, the French port of Brest and the Portuguese port of Leixoes for maritime infrastructure investment funding has been approved by the European Commission.
ATLANTIS is a transnational funding project that was submitted to the commission’s Motorways of the Sea initiative, which is designed to streamline and promote new intermodal maritime-based logistics chains across Europe.
Following the decision, Liverpool City Region will receive approximately £370,000 to pay for a range of feasibility and development activities including capital projects integral to the delivery of Superport such as the proposed Parkside Strategic Rail Freight Interchange in St Helens.
Money will also be used to fund a major maritime event as part of the International Festival for Business 2016.
Robert Hough, chairman of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said:
“This is fantastic news for our city region and showcases transnational partnership working at its best.
“The city region is going through an exciting period with £1bn worth of transformational projects underway and it is vitally important that our transport system in the region supports this development and seeks to encourage further investment to grow the regional economy. We will now work with our partners including Peel Ports, Merseytravel and the city region local authorities in driving this project forward.”
Source: Insider Media, 20 July 2015
