Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers agreed to create a single joint infrastructure manager for the Rail Baltica line designating Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas (EDZL) to commence necessary legal and administrative process to facilitate the preparations for line’s infrastructure management.
“Latvia’s goal is to achieve a single joint Rail Baltica infrastructure management in all three Baltic States. We have reached this agreement in various meetings with experts and industry representatives. We must be able to use the new line effectively and offer a new quality of services. It can be best achieved by a single joint infrastructure management,” Tālis Linkaits, the Transport Minister of Latvia said.
While discussions between the Baltic States about the optimal Rail Baltica infrastructure are still ongoing, in the interim period EDZL will carry out three main tasks to ensure the maintenance of the newly built infrastructure and objects, the land acquisition and to develop the national legal regulations to set up the joint Rail Baltica infrastructure management framework.
The decision is in favour of the future railway operators, logistics industry and other railway users as the single joint Rail Baltica infrastructure manager will carry out the key functions of a cross-border infrastructure manager, strongly committed to promoting equal access and a well-functioning railway market by ensuring fair competition and equal access to the infrastructure.
“Before staring the development of the Rail Baltica infrastructure model, each country has a homework to do: create legal framework; decide on the management of operations in the multi-modal maintenance facilities such as Riga Central station and Salaspils intermodal terminal as well as provide necessary human and technical recourses,” Kaspars Vingris, EDZL Chairman of Management Board said.
The Rail Baltica line will have a total length of 870 km, of which 265 km in Latvia, 391 km in Lithuania and 213 km in Estonia. The project is estimated at EUR 5.8 billion, of which EUR 1.97 billion is the needed investment in Latvia, with a EUR 393 million national contribution.
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