Preparations underway for construction of Rail Baltica railway depots
Planning has begun for new depot development territories intended to service the Rail Baltica railway. The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, AB Lietuvos Geležinkelių Infrastruktūra (LTG Infra) and service provider UAB Atamis have signed a contract, based on which the optimal Rail Baltica railway infrastructure maintenance depot development solutions and the territories necessary for it are to be established. The contract is valued at almost 314 thousand euro.
“When the European standard gauge railway Rail Baltica begins operating, Lithuanian railway infrastructure will expand significantly, the intensity of train traffic will increase, technological maintenance differences will emerge for differing standards of infrastructure, which will necessitate more attention and capacities to be allocated to maintenance. It is clear that existing depots will not suffice and so we must prepare and construct new ones,” Lietuvos Geležinkelių Infrastruktūra head Karolis Sankovski says.
During the first stage of works, development alternatives for no less than four 1435 mm railway gauge railway infrastructure maintenance depots will be prepared, as well as objects related to them (railway roads, buildings, constructions and mechanisms).
These alternatives will be formed in consideration of the conclusions of the railway infrastructure technical maintenance capacity study of the Rail Baltica project. They will also have to adhere to criteria such as the capability for facilitated access to necessary utilities, access roads will have to be presented, as well as other essential infrastructure.
Based on the multi-criteria analysis and cost-benefit analysis, optimal alternatives for Rail Baltica railway infrastructure maintenance depot development will be selected, and the territories necessary for this will be formed. On this basis, land purchase for state needs procedures will be performed and planning completed.
The project will be financed from EU structural funds and the Republic of Lithuania state budget, and/or AB Lietuvos Geležinkelių Infrastruktūra funds. The depots for servicing Rail Baltica’s railway infrastructure will be set up by 2026.
Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the Baltic States’ history. In implementing it, across the Rail Baltica route, an electrified European standard gauge railway line will be laid down, ranging from Warsaw through Kaunas to Riga and onward to Tallinn.
The combined length of the Rail Baltica railway line across the Baltics reaches 870 km: 392 km in Lithuania, 265 km in Latvia and 213 km in Estonia.
The project’s construction works are expected to be valued at 5.8 billion euro. This is the largest investment aimed at improving mobility and travel opportunities, developing business, tourism and exchanges of goods in the region.