Lithuanian Railways says that it will seek support for the European-standard gauge railway Rail Baltica after the European Commission on November 5th launched the CEF second call for proposals with EUR 7.6 billion being made available for key transport projects.
Vidmantas Gudas, a spokesman for the state railway company, says that decisions have not been made yet as to what Rail Baltica-related projects funding will be sought for and whether applications will be submitted via RB Rail, a joint venture set up by the Baltic countries for Rail Baltica.
“Given that Rail Baltica is a priority project for the European Commission, support will be sought for work related to Rail Baltica, such as a signaling system on the completed track (from the border with Poland) to Kaunas and further work from Kaunas northwards. There is no decision either as to who will submit the application. It is possible that this will be done via RB Rail,” said.
According to Gudas, the signaling system project is estimated to cost around EUR 75 million. The value of other projects is not clear yet.
The EU’s executive body in June approved 106 million euros in funding for Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai for Rail Baltica-related projects, which accounts for 85% of their total value of 125 million euros. However, it did not provide 75.3 million euros for the signaling system.
It also approved 442 million euros (82%) for RB Rail.
Share on:
