Even under the most positive scenario it will not be possible to complete Rail Baltica railway line through all of Riga by 2030, as reported by LTV programme De Facto.
Latvian Ministry of Transport has submitted a report regarding the progress Rail Baltica project needs to accomplish in six years and where to find the money for the project. The report is confidential.
In this report, the ministry proposes choosing the variant in which the first stage of Rail Baltica may include connection with both primary railway stations in Riga – the central station and the international airport. At the same time, European standard rails would not cross the entire capital.
De Facto reports that the ministry’s proposed scenario assumes that the train, arriving from the Estonian side, crosses the Daugava River near Salaspils and at Misa there would be a branch where it would turn to Riga Airport and then enter Riga Central Station, and then make this way back and continue its movement to Lithuania through Misa and Iecava.
This would make the trip to Riga 20 minutes longer, as the programme was told by minister Kaspars Briškens.
No tunnel would be built in Torņakalns, but through reorganisation of the existing railway network a European gauge line would also be built on the same track. This would take both less time and would cost less to the budget.
Already it is clear the section of the track on the right bank of Daugava River – from Riga Central Station to Saurieši near Salaspils – will not be ready in the next six years even under the most optimistic scenario, De Facto reports.
According to the minister of transport, it would help reduce the cost of the first stage by at least one-third. He refused to name the exact amount to the programme. He also didn’t say if the costs of the first stage of the project are slightly above EUR 6 billion.
The majority of objections to the report came from the Ministry of Finance. De Facto reports that the institution explained in particular that even if the European Connecting Infrastructure Fund manages to get the required EUR 3.68 billion without a hitch, the question of where to take another three billion euros remains unanswered.
Minister of Finance Arvils Ašeradens told De Facto that several billion euros simply do not appear as though by magic.
“Our duty, both in regards to our neighbours and in regards to security concerns […], is the military mobility issue, that we must, by any ascetic means, get a ready-made line that works and connects (…) Tallinn with Lithuania’s border with Poland,” said the minister.
He stressed that “this is our absolute priority, and the rest if secondary. We have to focus on that and we will look for solutions”.
As previously reported, Rail Baltica project provides for creating a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border, so that it is possible to connect the Baltic States with other European countries. In the Baltic States, it is planned to build a new 870-kilometer-long European gauge – 1 435 mm railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 km/h.
Initially it was planned for Rail Baltica costs to reach EUR 5.8 billion. However, the sides involved in the project have said multiple times that the costs have since increased significantly. A portion of the costs are paid by the European Union. Rail Baltica railway line is planned to be opened stage by stage between 2028 and 2030.
In its report for 2023, the State Security Service (VDD) stressed that, despite the existing difficulties, further delays in the construction of the Rail Baltica infrastructure are unacceptable and the project requires focused risk management.
Also read: Week in Lithuania | President refuses questions in whistleblower probe; bank cuts 2024 GDP forecast
Follow us on Facebook and X!