The implementation company of the “Rail Baltica” railway project in Latvia, SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas (EDzL), and the mainline constructor ERB Rail have signed an agreement to start construction work, EDzL representatives report.
Construction of the Rail Baltica mainline in Latvia will begin on the southern section from Misa to the Lithuanian border, which is divided into several segments — altogether covered by 11 construction permits.
On Friday, agreements were signed to commence work under the first four permits, which include tasks such as unexploded ordnance inspections, construction of the railway embankment, access roads and temporary roads, as well as a new railway overpass and a bridge over the Iecava River. Work will also continue on cost optimization for the project.
Jānis Naglis, board member of EDzL, stated that the signing of these agreements marks the end of extensive and time-consuming preparatory work — laying the groundwork to “put a spade in the ground” and begin large-scale construction of the Rail Baltica mainline.
“We are moving forward with concrete and practical steps in implementing this project:
land necessary for the construction of the southern section is available, and funding is secured for the first 45 kilometers of the route. The recent 153.3 million euros granted by the European Commission to the Latvian section of Rail Baltica will allow further progress,” said Naglis.
So far, preparatory work has been carried out on a 16-hectare site for the Iecava infrastructure maintenance facility — a strategically important hub for the project. An embankment is currently being built, adjacent to the deforested Rail Baltica corridor, and access roads and the temporary office for ERB Rail have been established. Construction material deliveries are ongoing.
Rail Baltica’s mainline construction in Latvia will involve multiple complex construction elements and is the largest railway infrastructure project in Latvian history, according to LDzL.
The full scope of mainline construction includes land preparation, embankments, bridges, roads and overpasses,
relocation of utility networks, track installation, and other infrastructure over approximately 230 kilometers. Outside Riga, plans include the construction of: 60 railway bridges, 85 road overpasses, 9 wildlife crossings, 2 maintenance depots, 12 million cubic meters of embankments, 71,000 tons of track materials.
As previously reported, according to the joint Baltic venture RB Rail, the first stage of Rail Baltica could cost 14.3 billion eurosacross the Baltics, including 5.5 billion euros in Latvia. However, technical optimizations could reduce costs by up to 500 million euros, with other savings also possible.
Total project costs for the entire Baltic region may reach 23.8 billion euros, according to the latest cost-benefit analysis — significantly higher than the 5.8 billion euros estimated in 2017.
The Rail Baltica project aims to create a European standard gauge railway (1435 mm) line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border, ensuring high-speed rail connectivity between the Baltics and the rest of Europe. The planned route across the Baltic States will stretch 870 kilometers, with trains capable of reaching speeds up to 240 km/h.
Read also: Rail Baltica – Estonia builds faster and cheaper; Latvia pays more and delays. Why?