Kokk, said this is evident from spending levels: Whereas Estonia has earmarked nearly €500 million towards Rail Baltica development this year alone, for Latvia the figure is not much more than half that.

The bulk of the funds in any case get spent in the actual building phase, which Estonia has moved into already.

The 2030 target for phase one of Rail Baltica, a single pair of tracks along the whole length from Tallinn to the Lithuania-Poland border, remains on course, including in Latvia, Kokk noted.

This was confirmed by Latvian Transport Minister Atis Svinka at a recent meeting, he added.

"In Latvia, €260 million has been allocated in 2026 for the construction of Rail Baltica, including €8 million from the state budget to optimize project solutions within the limits of existing funding," Iveta Kamarute, spokesperson for the Latvian Ministry of Transport, told ERR. "Latvia's commitment to ensure a functioning cross-border European-gauge railway connection between Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the first stage, in line with existing funding, remains unchanged," she added.

"This commitment is reaffirmed in the European Commission's implementing decision of July 9, 2025 on the implementation of the Rail Baltica cross-border project, as well as in the joint commitment of the three Baltic states, and in the amendments to Latvia's Rail Baltica project implementation law, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on November 11, 2025 and submitted to the Latvian parliament," Kamarute noted in her response.

"These legislative developments underline the geostrategic importance of Rail Baltica for the entire Baltic region and strengthen the project's governance and implementation framework in Latvia, clearly increasing not only the involvement and responsibility of the Ministry of Transport but of the entire Latvian government. This approach reflects Latvia's strong sense of shared responsibility with Estonia and Lithuania and a firm determination to implement Rail Baltica in full alignment with the common objectives of the three Baltic states and the European Union," the representative of Latvia's Ministry of Transport emphasized.

The Latvian ministry stated Rail Baltica construction is also dependent on EU funding, including amounts planned in the next seven-year budget framework (2028–2034). The Ministry of Transport emphasizes that the successful implementation of the first phase of Rail Baltica continues to depend on the availability of sufficient EU funding in the upcoming multiannual financial framework," the Latvian transport ministry noted.

All three Baltic states also hope to receive support for railway construction from the next EU budget's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) sub-program to a total of 85 percent of the project's cost, with the remaining 15 percent to be filed under national co-financing.

At the same time, the Latvian ministry noted that for financing the railway section running north of Riga, between Skulte, a coastal town just north of Riga, and the Estonian border, a public-private partnership (PPP) model is also being carefully considered.

Fears in Estonia have been that construction of this stretch will be neglected to the extent of it remaining on the older 1,520  mm gauge track rather than the 1,435 mm gauge which will be standard for Rail Baltica. This would mean a time consuming switching of gauges on locos when arriving at and leaving that stretch.

Latvia says it has successfully used the PPP model in road construction.

Rail Baltic Estonia board chair Anvar Salomets gave an overview in mid-December last year in which he stated €494 million had been planned for the construction of the Estonian section of Rail Baltica this year. The bulk, or €486 million, of this total has been confirmed in the 2026 state budget, including both national co-financing and EU funds.

€686 million has been planned for Rail Baltica construction in Estonia to 2027 inclusive, of which €493 million is covered in accordance with the state budget strategy.

Rail Baltica is set to have a dual use in having the capacity to transport heavy military materiel north and south where needed, as well as providing a fast passenger link to the border with Poland.

A Latvian opposition politician had last month told the Riigikogu the project was up to five years behind schedule, in Latvia itself. Lithuania's portion is reportedly on schedule. Latvia and Lithuania both have the challenges of the rail link having to cross large rivers, an obstacle absent in Estonia, though boggy ground is one of the major engineering challenges in the northernmost Baltic state.

The EU has put the entire pricetag for Rail Baltica at €24 million in its latest estimates.

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