On Monday in Vilnius, a 1.77 billion euro contract was signed for the design and construction of the Rail Baltica railway project’s electrification subsystem across the entire Rail Baltica route, the joint venture RB Rail AS has announced.
The contract, signed jointly with all three Baltic States, is worth 1.77 billion euros(excluding VAT).
Electrification will be carried out by the Spanish consortium “Cobelec Rail Baltica”, which consists of Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios and Elecnor Servicios y Proyectos. The agreement covers the entire Rail Baltica route, with the first phase (worth 949 million euros excl. VAT) to be implemented by 2030.
The signing ceremony in Vilnius was attended by representatives of the responsible ministries of the three Baltic States, the management of the Rail Baltica implementing bodies, and the Spanish consortium partners.
Catherine Trautmann, North Sea–Baltic Corridor Coordinator at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, stressed the importance of coordination: “The coordination ensured by the joint venture together with national implementing bodies is the key to the success of such a large-scale cross-border project. The contract signed today confirms all partners’ shared commitment to build an integrated and interoperable cross-border railway line.”
She added that
strengthening connectivity between the Baltic States and the rest of the EU is more important than ever
given the current geopolitical climate.
Marko Kivila, CEO and Chairman of RB Rail, noted that electrification is not just about powering trains, but also about sustainable mobility, interoperability with the European rail network, and long-term energy efficiency.
“This is a very complex agreement. Electrification works will be implemented in parallel with other project activities to ensure all necessary steps are taken on time,” he said.
Jānis Naglis, board member of SIA “Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas” (EDzL), responsible for Rail Baltica in Latvia, said that electrification is one of the most complex and critical stages, ensuring safe and efficient power supply throughout the Latvian corridor.
According to RB Rail,
the international tender winner will electrify 2,403 km of tracks along 870 km of line in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,
making it the largest railway electrification project in Europe. It will also be the first large-scale use of Static Frequency Converter (SFC) technology combined with a 2×25 kV 50 Hz system powered by 10 traction substations.
The tender was launched in May 2022. Four international consortia submitted bids, and three were shortlisted in 2023. The Cobra–Elecnor consortium was selected based on technical solutions, cost-efficiency, and sustainability criteria.
The symbolic ceremony followed the electronic signing of the contract on 31 July 2025, marking the official start of the electrification project.
Construction of the main line, international stations, bridges and crossings is underway in all three Baltic States: Estonia: Over 100 km of substructure works, including the Ülemiste terminal area, Latvia: Priority works on the southern section near Iecava, and in the Riga Central Hub and Riga Airport areas, Lithuania: Ongoing works on the Kaunas–Panevėžys section (77 km of embankments and engineering structures already built; works planned on 114 km by end 2025, including track-laying and a new bridge over the Neris River).
By the end of 2025, active construction will be underway on 43% of the entire Rail Baltica line,
RB Rail said. The electrification subsystem will include: Overhead catenary lines along the whole route, High-voltage substations using advanced SFC technology, An energy control and management centre.
The SFC system will ensure stable, synchronised, and dynamic power supply regardless of train frequency or location. The project will also use systems engineering, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and GIS, and will apply energy efficiency and life-cycle cost optimisation approaches, helping to meet strict environmental and operational requirements and reduce future operating costs.
Electrification will be implemented in two phases — the first by 2030, the second by 2040, starting only when funding and prerequisites are secured.
RB Rail is the contracting authority, while EDzL is responsible for implementing the contract in Latvia — ordering works, supervising them, and making payments.
RB Rail estimates that the first stage of Rail Baltica will cost 14.3 billion euros across the Baltics, including 5.5 billion euros in Latvia, with up to 500 million euros in potential savings from optimising technical solutions. The total cost could reach 23.8 billion euros, compared to 5.8 billion euros estimated in the 2017 cost–benefit analysis.
Rail Baltica will create a European standard (1435 mm) railway from Tallinn to the Lithuania–Poland border, including a branch from Kaunas to Vilnius, enabling fast trains up to 240 km/h and connecting the Baltic States to the wider European rail network.
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