The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to provide Latvijas Dzelzceļš (LDz) with EUR 3 million to ensure financial balance with infrastructure maintenance in 2020.
According to the Ministry of Transport, financing was taken from the state budget for emergencies.
Financing was allocated to cover the costs of maintenance of public use railway infrastructure, including co-financing of development projects important for the improvement of quality of railway services and «enhancement of railway as the backbone of public transportation and environment friendly transport infrastructure,» according to the Ministry of Transport.
LDz is currently working on reducing infrastructure maintenance costs, the ministry said.
The ministry will prepare and submit to the government a report for future steps and risk prevention measures.
In 2020 the public use section of Latvia’s railway managed by LDz was used to transport 24.11 million tonnes of freight, which is 41.9% less when compared to 2018. The railway was also used to carry 12.86 passengers. As a result, revenue from minimal access services in 2020, considering the volume of state grants used on passenger transport infrastructure, dropped by 49%, according to information from LDz.