€1.77 billion Rail Baltica electrification agreement signed
A €1.77 billion electrification agreement for the high-speed Rail Baltica link has been signed in Vilnius.
The agreement is the biggest of its kind in Europe and one of the biggest worldwide, and is the first high-speed rail agreement which applies jointly to all three Baltic states.
870 kilometers of railway will be electrified, from Tallinn in the north to the Lithuanian border with Poland in the south.
RB Rail board chair Marko Kivila told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "Funding for the entire construction cycle is not yet secured by the EU, although it is expected that the member states Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are working on achieving as much funding as possible from the EU, for this project. As of today, funding is available for the design aspects. This is a framework agreement, which means that when money is obtained, construction works will also be carried out."
Rail Baltic Estonia board chair Anvar Salomets said: "The technological solution is shared among the Baltic countries. Work will be done section by section, and the states themselves can choose this. For example, Ülemiste-Pärnu, Pärnu-Ikla, Ikla-Riga. These sections can be selected within the agreement."
Representatives of Cobelec Rail Baltica, a joint company created by the Spanish firms Cobra and Elecnor which has the tender for the electrification, have said that state-of-the-art global tech will be brought to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, using large-scale static frequency converters.
The prepared budget up to 2030 remains under one billion euros, which should be sufficient to electrify one track pair, though not all funds have been made available yet.
The project will require about 2,400 kilometers of overhead contact lines, 50,000 poles, and 10 substations, according to RB Rail, LRT reported.
The total cost of Rail Baltica's initial phase is estimated at €15.5 billion: €6.6 billion in Lithuania, €5.5 billion in Latvia, and €3.2 billion in Estonia. In Lithuania, the main line will be built first, followed by a section linking Kaunas and Vilnius after 2030.
The Rail Baltic electrification agreement was signed at the Vilnius energy and technology museum on Monday.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
