In November, Lithuania will launch a new tender on Rail Baltica, as part of the second phase of the project. ‘Upon receiving the approval of the board of Lithuanian Railways, contract works have been started on the section Jiesia–Rokai of Rail Baltica. A call for bids to perform the construction of a European standard gauge railway of the section Rokai–Palemonas–Kaunas is scheduled in November. The documents of public procurement have been drafted and are being coordinated with responsible institutions,’ Vice- Minister of Transport and Communications Saulius Girdauskas said.
A total of EUR 88.27 million is planned to be allocated for the project’s contract works and technical maintenance. The activities related to the Rail Baltica project will be partially financed (85 percent) with the funds of the Connecting Europe Facility for the transport sector. The remaining funds (15 percent) will be allocated by Lithuanian Railways.
Initially, the reconstruction works in the section Kaunas–Palemonas of the current railway Rokai–Palemonas–Kaunas will be performed. Then the railway Palemonas–Rokai will be reconstructed. The works will be carried out in several stages – in the section Palemonas station–Kaunas hydroelectric power plant (HE) in the boundaries of Kaunas HE and in the section Kaunas HE–Rokai.
2015 marked the completion of the construction of a 1435 mm gauge railway between the Poland-Lithuania border and Kaunas Central Station and the start of preparatory works for the implementation of the second stage of Rail Baltica.
Work has started on developing a special plan for building a European gauge railway from Kaunas to the Lithuania-Latvia border and drafting a strategic environmental impact assessment of this railway strip. This work is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
Lithuania has been the first of the Baltic States to embark on the second stage of the project that involves the construction of an European standard gauge railway from Kaunas to the Lithuania-Latvia border.
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