The European Commission has been clear about its demands for the construction of Rail Baltica. The railway needs to be finished and have trains running by 2030 to continue funding. A key question is whether or not Latvian capital city Riga will be connected to the line by that time.
In Latvia, the Rail Baltica project has run into difficulties. Transport minister Kaspars Briškens recently made a statement on Latvian radio that it may initially bypass Riga. The construction of the railway in Riga is complicated by financial issues due to inflation, high energy costs and limited availability of building materials and labour. Additionally, the location of Riga’s central railway station in the middle of the city does not lend itself well to new infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, a representative from the European Commission made clear that the EU wants the Rail Baltica mainline to be finished by 2030. The rail project needs to demonstrate tangible results in order to justify funding and to attract more interested parties for tender contracts.
European Union funding for the project is subject to time constraints. If not finished by 2030, the project could lose access to 1 billion euros in EU funding. In order to construct the mainline within that time frame, Rail Baltica may initially need to bypass Riga. As Riga hosts half of Latvia’s population and is the country’s economic centre, such a bypass would be to the dismay of many.
Plagued by issues
The construction of the Latvian section of Rail Baltica has been plagued by issues. The railway’s projected costs rose from 5,8 billion euros to 8 billion euros, and design, land expropriation and construction all face delays. Recently, Latvian state secretary of transport Ilonda Stepanova was suspended for alleged ‘work violations’ relating to the supervision of the Rail Baltica project.
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