On October 26, the Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, signed the adopted Decision on Implementing Rail Baltica cross-border project on the North Sea-Baltic TEN-T Corridor. The Decision lays down a description of the actions and the implementation timetable for the cross-border project Rail Baltica (Tallinn-Pärnu-Riga-Panevėžys-Kaunas-Warszawa, with a connection to Vilnius), as well as related governance provisions.
The document highlights that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland shall ensure the timely implementation. Thus, by the end of 2018, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania must complete the consolidated preliminary technical design, the strategic environmental assessment – except from Kaunas to Vilnius and from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border, and the study on infrastructure management, which should be submitted to the national authorities of the three countries.
By June 2019, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania should conclude the decision on the management of the built infrastructure.
According to the timeline, in 2020, the strategic environmental assessments, the spatial planning and the technical design of the railway shall be completed.
Between 2021 and 2023, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will implement the land acquisition processes and should complete the technical design of the railway.
By December 2025, the railway infrastructure shall be completed as a double-track railway line for mixed traffic, suitable for minimum 740-m long freight trains, electrified, in UIC gauge, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and the ERTMS shall be deployed to achieve full interoperability.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will report at least once a year to the Commission and to the European Coordinator for the North Sea-
Baltic Core Network Corridor on the progress in implementing the timeline actions and they shall notify any delay, specifying the causes and indicating the corrective measures taken.
“The Decision (…) is a key milestone for the project. It sets out the intermediate steps until the project will be completed in 2026 in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and formalises the governance of the project with the involvement of the European Commission, the European Coordinator and Finland as an important partner. The decision was prepared in agreement with the five Member States concerned and shows their commitment to the common timeline and joint decision-making procedures,” Catherine Trautmann, North-Sea Baltic TEN-T Corridor Coordinator said.
The new Rail Baltica 1435 mm gauge double track direct high-speed line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian/Polish border is considered one of the main missing link of the North Sea-Baltic Corridor, which currently consists of 5947 km of railways. The Corridor connects the ports of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea with ports of the North Sea, situated in Northern Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
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