Tuesday 3 January the Minister of Transport Janis Wittenbergs (NA) met the company”RB Railroad” European railway lines“management, requesting explanations on the progress and implementation issues of the project”Railway Baltic“in the implementation of the project.
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After the meeting, the minister said concerns about the seriousness of the situation had been confirmed and instructed the parties involved to prepare an action plan to eliminate the problems within two weeks.
“In the meeting with the promoters of “Rail Baltica”, it was important to understand how deep are the problems of implementing the project and what are the prospects for finding a solution in transparent times. After hearing today, we have to conclude that the project is experiencing significant delays. It was not only the Covid-19, Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine and other important considerations, but also some shortcomings in the project management and regulatory acts. The “Rail Baltica” railway line is the largest infrastructure project in the Baltics of our generation and connectivity with Western Europe is an essential economic and safety aspect,” Wittenberg stressed.
Agnis Driksna, chairman of the board and executive director of JSC “RB Rail”, said that there were a number of processes in the project that hindered its progress, however, he acknowledged that the smooth running of the project is particularly crucial at the moment: “Complications in planning, a cumbersome and complex land expropriation process, obstacles in the European acquisition of financing from EU funds, there are the most important reasons why, instead of the expected year of 2026, much we will probably be able to build the new route in the final phase only in 2030. We are aware of the seriousness of the situation and we respect the request of the Minister for the development of a detailed plan, especially taking into account national security aspects. In order to prevent problems identified, the involvement of other ministries and municipalities will also be necessary”.
You can have a look at the construction work of “Rail Baltica” in the gallery:
