"Today marks another important step in the Rail Baltica project - the first contract was signed. So the actual construction of a completely new railway line towards the Latvian border will start soon," says Karolis Sankovski, Chief Executive Officer of LTG Infra.

The successful tenderer, Eurovia Lietuva, will build 16 new local access roads alongside the future railway, which will allow property owners to access their land after the railway is built. The total length of new local roads is about 20.3 km.

In addition, 2 service roads will be built to maintain the rail path. Where it is not possible to provide separate tracks for the maintenance of railway infrastructure elements, slip roads will have to be built from the access roads. The contract will also require the successful tenderer to install surface sewage networks, reconstruct drainage structures and connect a pumping station.

The contract established the deadline within a maximum of 420 days from the start of work.

Procedures are also underway to sign the contract with the successful tenderer for the railway bridge over the River Neris in Jonava district. Tenders have also been launched for the installation of a new railway crossing and civil engineering structures on the sections Šveicarija-Žeimiai and Žeimiai-Šėta. Further tenders for contract works are planned in the near future.

Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States, which will see the construction of an electrified European-gauge railway line running from Warsaw through Kaunas and Riga to Tallinn, along the entire Rail Baltica route. The total length of the Rail Baltica line in the Baltics is 870 km: Lithuania - 392 km, Latvia - 265 km, Estonia - 213 km. The construction within the project, with an estimated value of around EUR 5.8 billion, is a major investment to improve mobility and travel opportunities, and to develop business, tourism and exchange of goods in the region.