€295.5 million EU Grant Signed to Advance Rail Baltica

A high-level meeting was held on 21–22 October in Vilnius between the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and representatives of the Rail Baltica delivery organizations to review the project’s progress and outline the next phase of construction and technical activities. During the visit, the project’s central coordinator, RB Rail AS, signed a new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant agreement with EU contribution of €295.5 million, supporting continued implementation across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Of the total amount, approximately €47.1 million is allocated to Estonia, €153.5 million to Latvia, and €94.9 million to Lithuania, including the share allocated to RB Rail AS as the joint project coordinator.

In Estonia, the granted funding will support the continued construction of the mainline from Tallinn to the Estonia/Latvia border, including 10.2 km of embankment and double-track substructure in the Rapla–Pärnu section.

Rail Baltica construction in Latvia and related activities will include the construction of the railway embankment in four southern sections of the main line, with a total length of 13.3 km. The works will include the construction of access and maintenance roads, installation of water drainage systems, construction of engineering communications, as well as other works necessary for the embankment construction. In addition, construction supervision and control will be carried out. Work will also be carried out on the technical design of the Rail Baltica electrification project in the section Upeslejas – Latvia/Lithuania border (Phase I) and on project implementation support measures (this includes FIDIC engineer services to ensure the supervision and compliance of the electrification technical design with the requirements of the global project, as well as construction project expertise).

In Lithuania, key structures such as overpasses and railway crossings will be built in the Kaunas Urban Node section. The grant also covers technical studies and design work, including regional station infrastructure, technical design for sections from Kaunas to the Lithuanian/Polish border, and executive design services. Additionally, land acquisition and related procedures will be carried out in the Kaunas area.

Furthermore, RB Rail AS, the joint venture responsible for Rail Baltica’s delivery, has been granted financing to continue overseeing cross-border project coordination and rest of works in line with the Project Management Agreement.

“CINEA’s continued support enables us to keep steady progress on the Rail Baltica mainline construction. With this funding, we can advance key sections in all three countries,” said Marko Kivila, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, RB Rail AS.

Morten Jensen, Head of Unit at CINEA, emphasized the visible acceleration of Rail Baltica works in Lithuania and the need to maintain coordinated progress among all project partners, noting that “with the signature of the Grant Agreement the Rail Baltica project receives a boost of almost 300 million EUR of CEF grant, amount which will significantly contribute to the continuation of construction works in all the three Baltic states.”

Original article

Image source: railbaltica.org