On Sunday, September 19, a special Baltic train of the Connecting Europe Express will stop in Sigulda and Cēsis. At Sigulda and Cēsis railway stations, the special train will stop every three hours, during which everyone will be able to see it by walking around the train deck, which serves as a venue for debates and conferences during the trip.
One of the wagons will also host a mobile exhibition hosted by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking. The exhibition will present innovations, research results and rail infrastructure projects along the Connecting Europe Express route, funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to build new transport infrastructures in Europe or to renovate and upgrade existing infrastructures. Visitors to the exhibition car will be able to get acquainted with the mentioned railway projects, as well as obtain additional information about the project description, costs and European Union support.
The Baltic train of the European connecting express will arrive at Sigulda railway station at 10.16 and will stand for three hours, while in Cēsis – at 13.52 and will also be available to the general public for three hours.
Various events are planned on the Connecting Europe Express route to welcome this train at railway stations across Europe. Railway enthusiasts also have the opportunity to follow the debate on board the train, as well as the conferences on the European Union’s infrastructure policy and the role of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which will be streamed live on the event’s website from Lisbon, Bucharest, Berlin and Bettembourg.
The Connecting Europe Facility is the result of cooperation between the European Commission and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European railway operators, infrastructure managers and a number of other partners at European Union and national level. Due to the different track gauges in Europe, the Connecting Europe Facility consists of three trains – the Iberian train, the standard train and the Baltic train – that will meet on this route. The project is, among other things, a reminder of the potential for increasing interoperability between certain parts of the European rail network, and it also demonstrates the very good cooperation between railway undertakings and infrastructure managers.
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