The Rail Baltica project has secured an additional €1.2 billion in funding from the European Union to build a railway in the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The first phase of the project, which will see a line connecting the three Baltic states to Poland by 2030, will cost 15.3 billion euros.
Rail Baltica joint venture RB Rail announced this week that it had secured an additional €1.2 billion from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The three Baltic states will provide a total of €1.5 billion in national funding, which Rail Baltica said will allow construction to progress on the project (details below).
The financing from the CEF to implement Rail Baltica activities in each country includes approximately €370 million (Estonia), €346 million (Latvia) and €458 million (Lithuania). The approved financing will complement existing funding of over €2.6 billion from the CEF and the three Baltic states.
“RB Rail made very strong proposals, and I am very pleased that after a tough and very competitive selection process we can award €1.2 billion to Rail Baltica. This shows our firm support for this campaign. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia must be better connected to the rest of the EU; the ongoing war in Ukraine has made the importance of this clear. I trust the project partners to make the most of the support and build this connection as soon as possible.” said Magda Kopěczyńska, Director General for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission.
Funding will accelerate the construction work
Estonia will receive financing for main line construction works, specifically various sections like Soodevahe – Kangru, Kangru – Saku, County Harjumaa (including Lagedi traffic junction/viaduct) and Hagudi – Alu. The Saku-Harju/Rapla border section and the Alu-Karpala section are additional main line construction. In total, Estonia will receive financing for up to 55 km of main line.
In Latvia, special attention is being paid to the transfer of natural gas pipelines to the Vangaži-Misa section and the construction of the main line, which is scheduled to begin in the coming months. Also important is the Misa-LV/LT border section, which will cover about 27 km. Additional funds have been allocated for partial supervision services and construction assessment for the Ikava high-voltage connection point and the Skulte construction facility, which will serve as the construction logistics base for Latvia’s northern section of the main line towards Estonia.
Co-financing for mainline construction in Lithuania is aimed at substructure works on the Ramigala-LT/LV state border section of the Ramygala – Berciunai and Berciunai – Joniskelis sections; high-voltage connection points at the Panevėžys, Isorai and Liudvinavas Rail Baltica traction substations; and the Kaunas-Ramigala line superstructure. In total, Lithuania will receive funding for 114 km of substructure projects (Kaunas-Lithuania/Latvia state border line) from the current financing.
Funding also goes towards the design of Rail Baltica’s electrification subsystems and various railway system generic designs.
The next phase of the Rail Baltica project will begin in 2024. By the end of the year, around 15% of the Rail Baltica mainline will be built.