Transport ministers from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have added their signatures to a declaration supporting the continued development of the Rail Baltica network.
The agreement was signed at a TEN-T Days 2015 event in the Latvian capital, Riga, earlier this week.
Work began last year on the new standard-gauge line, which will link the cities of Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Warsaw and Berlin, last year on the Lithuanian segment of the corridor.
In October 2014, the RB Rail joint venture was established to manage the project. Shortly after, the joint venture made its first application for Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding.
By the end of this year, work to upgrade the existing 1520 mm gauge railway and construct the new 264 kilometre standard-gauge line should be completed.
Anrijs Matiss, Minister of Transport of Latvia commented, “Rail Baltica is an excellent example of such cohesive infrastructure. It shall not only connect the major Baltic cities via the European standard gauge – paving the way for new mobility solutions for passengers and freight – but also mark the symbolic reconnection of the Baltic region with the core of Europe.”
The project should be completed in 2025.
Rail Baltica is an essential portion of the European Ten-T program. The construction area is relatively flat and provides easy construction for rail lines. There is NO logical reason that it should take another ten years to complete this segment of railway! The new line will greatly expand travel, trade, transport and tourism to this area of the European Union, providing thousands of new jobs. If the Baltic nations can become members of the EURAIL Pass system, tourism will increase significantly.