Rail Baltica

Railway is part of TEN-T core rail network (TEN-T Regulation 1315/2013); Financed from Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Regulation 1316/2013); tenders ongoing according to the Public procurement directive. Rail Baltica is a key EU infrastructure project to link Republic of Finland, Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia, Republic of Lithuania and Republic of Poland with a new European gauge, fast, conventional railway.

Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union: Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) It envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Republic of Estonia) to Warsaw (Republic of Poland), going via Riga (Republic of Latvia) and Kaunas (Republic of Lithuania) with a connection to Vilnius (Republic of Lithuania).

Rail Baltica, with its modern and new infrastructure, with its multiplying effects, will change the logistics playground on the eastern part of Baltic Sea. With the Artic railway and Republic of Finland joining from the North and coming from the south in Republic of Poland, it will remake the maps of cargo and people movement. Rail infrastructure has the potential to transform travel times within the Baltic States by significantly improving the economic competitiveness of the three countries and to create commuting duopolies between the capitals to be connected. Rail transport has a capacity to provide a competitive alternative for cargo carriers.

With the construction/completion of the Rail Baltica railway, as a part of the North Sea-Baltic economic and TEN-T corridor, great benefits are envisaged. Project will complete integration of the Baltic States into the EU rail transport system, improve traffic safety in the Baltics/of the TEN-T corridor, provide new opportunities for passengers and freight logistics, reduce environmental footprint of mobility in the Baltic States, and provide a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the region. A Republic of Lithuanian business and science consortium is working on design and production of the LNG-powered railway locomotive prototype, which clearly is an opportunity for Rail Baltica future.

These benefits will not be bound only to the Baltic States. As a new economic platform, the new EU-gauge rail connection will contribute to the development of the whole North Sea-Baltic Corridor, which connects the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland with the Baltics and the Republic of Finland.

Moreover, this corridor interconnects with the other main TEN-T corridors, such as Baltic – Adriatic and Rhine – Danube ensuring a Core Transport Network for the Three Seas Initiative member states.

The Beneficiaries of the Rail Baltica project are three Baltic State ministries – Republic of Estonia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Republic of Latvia’s Ministry of Transport and Republic of Lithuania’s Ministry of Transport and Communications. In 2014 a joint venture - RB Rail AS – was established to be a Global Project Coordinator, for the purpose of ensuring harmonization with the Global Project parameters and coordinating cross border activities. Rail Baltic Republic of Estonia OU and the Republic of Estonian Technical Regulatory Authority in Republic of Estonia, Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas SIA in Republic of Latvia, Lietuvos geležinkelių infrastruktūra AB in Republic of Lithuania are the national Implementing Bodies.