On Tuesday, Julijus Glebovas, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, met with the heads of the companies implementing the Rail Baltica project in Lithuania and urged them to speed up the implementation of the project. The aim is to build the European railway line from Kaunas to Panevėžys as early as possible and to connect the Lithuanian and Polish sections at the same time.
The meeting with the management of LTG Infra, the company of the Lithuanian Railways Group (LTG) implementing the project in Lithuania, and representatives of the Management Board and Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS, the Baltic joint venture, discussed the progress of the Rail Baltica project and the next steps to be taken.
Deputy Minister Glebovas stressed that in the current geopolitical context it is particularly important to increase the pace of the construction of the European railway line between Kaunas and Panevėžys. According to the Deputy Minister, it is also crucial to prepare for the construction towards the border with Poland in the shortest possible time.
“We believe that one of the ways to achieve this is to optimise operations and resources prioritising those parts and sections of the project that connect us to the West and enable train traffic. Rail Baltica is also pivotal for military mobility and national security. We need to complete the project by 2030, so we expect the responsible companies to take all possible measures to speed up the work,” said the Deputy Minister.
Construction of the 46.3 km of the Rail Baltica’s main line crossing and civil engineering structures is currently underway in Lithuania on the section from Kaunas to Panevėžys. Construction work is expected to extend to 114 km by the end of this year, covering 43% of the entire first phase line. During the meeting, the national implementing body AB LTG Infra also committed to increase the pace of construction.
To complete the remaining design work on this section, AB LTG Infra took over the design contract for the 78 km section from Kaunas to Ramygala from the Baltic joint venture RB Rail as early as 2024.
“Last year, LTG Infra, which is implementing Rail Baltica in Lithuania, finalised operations that will have a lasting impact on accelerating the project. The management model has been changed following agreement between the parties concerned, which means that we are taking over the contracts in Lithuania from the Baltic joint venture. Among the most important achievements are the agreements with international partners, the designer IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture, S.A.U. and the contractor Rizzani de Eccher, which allow us to continue with the construction of the Neris Bridge and the design of future sections,” said Arenijus Jackus, Director of Rail Baltica Lithuania.
On the stretch from the Polish border to Jiesia (Kaunas), planning of the territories has been completed, and land is being purchased. A contract for the design of this section is expected to be signed promptly.
So far, €1.6 billion have been earmarked for the Rail Baltica project in Lithuania. The aim is to spend no less than one third of the European Union (EU) funds allocated for Rail Baltica this year.
Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications Eugenijus Sabutis, who has met with the EU Commissioner for Transport and other senior officials in Brussels last week, stressed the need to increase European investment in Rail Baltica and other strategically important transport infrastructure projects in Lithuania. The implementation of Rail Baltica in both countries and its financing were also among the key issues discussed at a meeting of Lithuanian and Polish Transport Ministers in Warsaw earlier this year.
Rail Baltica is the largest rail infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States, connecting Tallinn, Pärnu, Riga, Panevėžys, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw. The total length of the Rail Baltica line in the Baltics will reach 870 km: 392 km in Lithuania, 265 km in Latvia and 213 km in Estonia.
