On Tuesday, the 7th of March, Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the allocation of pre-financing of EUR 74.4 million to the Ministry of Transport for the purposes of purchase of battery trains.
The government also approved the allocation of EUR 15.624 million to this project in order to cover VAT.
The report from the Ministry of Transport mentions that the investment into the procurement of battery trains will help provide better integration of the railway passenger transport network into Riga’s public transport system
by creating a passenger railway route connecting Riga and Bolderaja,
as well as introduce an option to use the rolling stock on the Riga-Sigulda route.
Minister of Transport Jānis Vitenbergs explained at a press-conference after the government meeting that the purchase of battery trains is cheaper than electrifying all railway lines.
Vitenbergs also said the demand for train traffic between Riga and Bolderaja will be great, because there are 20 000 people living in Bolderaja and Daugavgriva. There are also multiple factories in the area, including Latvijas finieris. The Riga-Sigulda route is already sufficiently active.
The purchase of battery trains is done in synergy with Latvian Railway (LDz) railway network electrification plan, which provides for the development of Bolderaja line: electrification of the line by the year 2026 and construction of a second railway line in the second stage.
In accordance with the Recovery Fund’s plan, it is planned to acquire put into operations seven battery trains by the 30th of June 2026. Additionally, all related procurement contracts regarding the number of trains and supply terms are to be signed by the 31st of December 2023. The total funding available from the Recovery Fund is EUR 74 400 000.
The total indicative funding distribution across the years provides for the amount to be provided in 2023 to reach EUR 11.16 million, no funding to be necessary in 2024 and 2025, and in 2026 it is to reach EUR 63.24 million.
As previously reported, the Road Transport Administration (ATD) announced a procurement for nine new battery trains in April in 2022. In August of the same year ATD reported having picked three contenders – Spanish Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Czech Škoda Vagonka and Polish Stadler Polska.
It is planned for seven of the trains procured as part of the Recovery and Resilience Facility to start coursing in Riga and Pieriga by the end of 2026. Delivery of two more trains will be co-financed using European Union funding for 2021-2027. It will be possible to use these trains on non-electrified railway lines.
It is planned to start with nine battery trains, but the documents of the procurement do mention the option to increase the number of procured trains by seven more if need be.
Also read: BNN INTERVIEW | Jānis Vitenbergs: a minister cannot work separately from the industry