In all three Baltic States the Rail Baltica implementation continues during the state of emergency due to coronavirus pandemic, Agnis Driksna, RB Rail Chairperson announced.
“We are not only delivering the detailed technical design in all of Estonia, Latvia and in two sections of Lithuania, but also developing plans to prepare for the large-scale construction works ahead. The focus is on setting up a procurement system that would enable quality, cost-efficiency and speed in the delivery of construction works and allow both international and local companies to take part in the project,” Driksna said during an Online Forum gathering 1000 viewers from 39 countries.
Rail Baltica implementation continues with detailed technical design in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and in 2020 the project will also focus on the development of passenger stations, freight terminals and railway maintenance facilities.
The technical design for Tallinn and Pärnu passenger terminals will continue in Estonia, while a procurement for technical design of freight terminals, rolling stock and service depos will be launched. It is expected that construction works will start for more than 20 rail-road viaducts and animal crossings.
Also, in 2020 Latvia will start the construction works for Riga Central station and by the end of the year, the contract for Riga airport section will be signed. The design of the multimodal terminal in Salaspils will begin along with additional environmental impact assessments and a study railway network development in Riga node.
In 2020 Lithuania will continue the construction works at Kaunas railway transport node and a construction tender will be launched for the main line section from Kaunas to the Lithuanian/Latvian state border. Special planning is ongoing for the Vilnius – Kaunas section followed by Kaunas node and Kaunas – Lithuanian/Polish state border section.
“Rail Baltica timeline is an ambitious one. Nevertheless, with the right tools and comprehensive planning and risk mitigation in place we are in a good position to reach this goal. More importantly, we have a clear understanding of the scope of the project and the necessary funding for the current needs has been secured,” Mark Loader, RB Rail Chief Programme Planning Officer explained.
This year, EUR 200 million European funding is planned to be used for various project activities in all the three Baltic States. By now, the project has secured EUR 941 million CEF financing and national co-funding. A EUR 781 million financial application has been submitted which will be invested by the end of 2023.
For the Rail Baltica global project, a construction procurement strategy will be developed which will pave the way for large-scale construction works. In addition, RB Rail will launch two key procurement systems for the energy subsystem engineering services and for the control, command and signalling system engineering.
RB Rail has concluded detailed technical design procurement for 643 km of the line resulting with 39 proposals from 16 international and local tenderers.
2022-2025 period is the peak of Rail Baltica construction works.
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