The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport, LTG Infra, and Ardanuy Ingenieria signed a contract for the preparation of engineering infrastructure development plans for the Kaunas railway node, part of Rail Baltica project.
The value of the contract is EUR 1.1 million with the completed plan expected to be approved in September 2022. The design and construction work are scheduled to be completed by late 2026.
Under the contract, Ardanuy Ingenieria will prepare the optimal solutions for the Rail Baltica railway development in Kaunas railway node, indicate the territories necessary for engineering infrastructure development, and form conditions for the stable development of this infrastructure.
When designing the plan, the company will perform engineering surveys, archaeological studies, and prapare a development concept for the planned territory with alternative options for the Rail Baltica railway and its infrastructure objects needed for developing the Kaunas node. Upon identifying the best alternative, the company will need to prepare tailored solutions, and perform an evaluation of their environmental impact.
The completed plan will have to outline the development and reconstruction solutions for the transport infrastructure, the buildings, stations, the intermodal terminal, passenger infrastructure, as well as engineering infrastructure.
Upon completing the works, the reconstruction will be performed on the Kaunas passenger station, the Rail Baltica railway bypass for rail freight traffic on the Rokai and HES – Palemonas route, which is currently a missing link.
“Kaunas railway node will become one of the most important logistics centres in Lithuania. Its railway station’s existing passenger transport routes will be supplemented by Rail Baltica’s international passenger rail transport routes Warsaw-Kaunas-Vilnius and Warsaw-Kaunas-Panevėžys-Riga-Pärnu-Tallinn. Also, in adapting to contemporary logistics trends, we will be continuing the modernisation of the Kaunas intermodal terminal,” LTG Infra CEO Karolis Sankovski said.
The Kaunas intermodal terminal will host semi-trailers filled with cars, which will be carried to Latvia and Estonia by road transport by the Via Baltica highway in the near future. In 2026, Kaunas node must be prepared to receive not only trains on the European standard gauge, but also to keep up with the constantly growing demand for passenger and intermodal cargo transport.
The 870-km Rail Baltica corridor will provide direct transport services within Baltic States and the European network. In Lithuania, the line will have a length of 392 km, in Latvia – 265 km and 213 km in Estonia. It will link Warsaw, Kaunas, Vilnius, Panevėžys, Riga, Tallinn and Pärnu. EUR 5.8 billion is the total value of the project of which EUR 1.2 billion is the currently available funding, with the latest EUR 184 million funding awarded through the CEF.
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